UFC on Fox: Lawler vs. dos Anjos (also known as UFC on Fox 26) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on December 16, 2017, at the Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.[2]
| UFC on Fox: Lawler vs. dos Anjos | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC on Fox: Lawler vs. dos Anjos | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | December 16, 2017 | |||
| Venue | Bell MTS Place | |||
| City | Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | |||
| Attendance | 8,862[1] | |||
| Total gate | $781,359[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
editThe event was the second that the promotion has hosted in Winnipeg, following UFC 161 in June 2013.[2]
The event was headlined by a welterweight bout between former UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler and former UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos.[3] On October 13, UFC President Dana White announced that the winner of the main event would receive a title shot against current champion Tyron Woodley, who won the belt by defeating Lawler by first-round knockout at UFC 201.[4]
A light heavyweight bout between Antônio Rogério Nogueira and Jared Cannonier, briefly linked to UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Pettis, was instead scheduled for this event.[5][6] However, on October 19, it was announced that Nogueira was pulled from the card after being notified by USADA of a potential doping violation, which resulted from an out-of-competition sample collected on September 27. The violation was due to a positive test for hydrochlorothiazide.[7] He was replaced by Jan Błachowicz.[8]
A light heavyweight bout between former UFC Light Heavyweight Championship challenger Glover Teixeira and Misha Cirkunov was expected to take place at UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Machida, but was moved to this event after a recent hand injury for Teixeira was slow to heal and required surgery.[9]
Former WEC Featherweight Champion and two time UFC Featherweight Champion José Aldo was scheduled to face former title challenger Ricardo Lamas in a rematch in the co-headliner.[10] The pairing met previously at UFC 169 in February 2014, with Aldo defending his title via unanimous decision.[11] However, Aldo was removed from the bout on November 10 in favor of a rematch against the current champion Max Holloway two weeks earlier at UFC 218 after Holloway's scheduled opponent, former UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar pulled out of that fight.[12] He was replaced by Josh Emmett.[13]
A middleweight bout between Vitor Miranda and promotional newcomer Julian Marquez was expected to take place at this event. However, on December 4, it was announced that Miranda was pulled from the fight, citing injury and was replaced by Darren Stewart.[14]
Sultan Aliev and Sheldon Westcott were removed out of their respective fights against Nordine Taleb and Danny Roberts for undisclosed reasons. Taleb and Roberts were then scheduled to face each other.[14]
A flyweight bout between former title challenger and The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions flyweight winner Tim Elliott and Justin Scoggins was expected to take place at this event. However, on December 3, it was announced that Scoggins was pulled from the fight due to a spinal fracture injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Pietro Menga.[15] In turn, Menga also withdrew from the bout during fight week following weight-cutting complications and the bout was scrapped entirely.[16]
At the weigh ins, Emmett weighed in at 148.5 pounds, 2.5 pounds over the featherweight non-title fight upper limit of 146 pounds. As such, the bout proceeded at a catchweight and Emmett is expected to forfeit part of his purse to his opponent Lamas. Meanwhile, Menga did not weigh in and his fight against Elliott was canceled.[17]
Results
edit| Main Card (Fox) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Welterweight | Rafael dos Anjos | def. | Robbie Lawler | Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 50–45, 50–45) | 5 | 5:00 | [a] |
| Catchweight (148.5 lb) | Josh Emmett | def. | Ricardo Lamas | KO (punch) | 1 | 4:33 | |
| Welterweight | Santiago Ponzinibbio | def. | Mike Perry | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Glover Teixeira | def. | Misha Cirkunov | TKO (punches) | 1 | 2:45 | |
| Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
| Light Heavyweight | Jan Błachowicz | def. | Jared Cannonier | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Julian Marquez | def. | Darren Stewart | Submission (guillotine choke) | 2 | 2:42 | |
| Welterweight | Chad Laprise | def. | Galore Bofando | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:10 | |
| Welterweight | Nordine Taleb | def. | Danny Roberts | KO (head kick, elbow and punch) | 1 | 0:59 | |
| Lightweight | John Makdessi | def. | Abel Trujillo | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Alessio Di Chirico | def. | Oluwale Bamgbose | KO (knee) | 2 | 2:14 | |
| Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Welterweight | Jordan Mein | def. | Erick Silva | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
- ^ UFC Welterweight title eliminator.
Bonus awards
editThe following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses:[19]
- Fight of the Night: Julian Marquez vs. Darren Stewart
- Performance of the Night: Nordine Taleb and Alessio Di Chirico
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Staff (2017-12-16). "UFC on FOX 26 draws reported 8,862 attendance for $781k live gate". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- ^ a b Nolan King (2017-07-26). "December "UFC Fight Night" Event in the works for Winnipeg". mma-today.com. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
- ^ Staff (2017-10-12). "Former champs collide as UFC returns to Winnipeg". ufc.com. Retrieved 2017-10-12.
- ^ Damon Martin (2017-10-13). "Robbie Lawler vs. Rafael dos Anjos winner gets next title shot against Tyron Woodley". mmaweekly.com. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
- ^ André Azevedo, Marcelo Barone and Raphael Marinho (2017-08-10). "Recovered from injury, Minotouro will face Cannonier at UFC Norfolk" (in Portuguese). sportv.globo.com. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
- ^ Thomas Gerbasi (2017-08-17). "Nogueira-Cannonier heads to Winnipeg". ufc.com. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
- ^ Mike Bohn (2017-10-19). "Antonio Rogerio Nogueira hit with potential USADA violation, pulled from UFC on FOX 26". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
- ^ Staff (2017-11-07). "Roberts vs. Westcott, Blachowicz vs. Cannonier added to UFC on FOX 26 in Winnipeg". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
- ^ Guilherme Cruz (2017-09-12). "Glover Teixeira vs. Misha Cirkunov moved to UFC on FOX 26". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
- ^ Staff (2017-10-13). "Jose Aldo vs. Ricardo Lamas rematch co-headlines UFC on FOX 26; Perry-Ponzinibbio, Mein-Silva added". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
- ^ Ben Fowlkes (2014-02-02). "UFC 169 results, photos: Jose Aldo retains title, outkicks Ricardo Lamas". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
- ^ Ariel Helwani (2017-11-11). "Max Holloway vs. Jose Aldo 2 slated as new UFC 218 main event". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
- ^ Dana Becker (2017-11-27). "UFC on FOX 26: Ricardo Lamas meets Josh Emmett in Winnipeg". mmanews.com. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
- ^ a b Peter Carroll (2017-12-04). "Several changes announced for UFC on FOX 26". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2017-12-04.
- ^ Stefan Van Erp (2017-12-03). "Justin Scoggins out: Tim Elliott now faces Pietro Menga" (in Dutch). mmadna.nl. Retrieved 2017-12-04.
- ^ Matt Erickson and Mike Bohn (2017-12-15). "Flyweight Pietro Menga doesn't weigh in for UFC on FOX 26, fight with Tim Elliott scrapped". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
- ^ Staff (2017-12-15). "UFC on FOX 26 weigh-in results: Headliners official, one fighter over, one fight scratched". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
- ^ "UFC on Fox: Lawler vs. dos Anjos". Ultimate Fighting Championship. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
- ^ Alexander K. Lee (2017-12-16). "UFC on FOX 26 bonuses: Julian Marquez, Darren Stewart awarded for back-and-forth brawl". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2017-12-17.