UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch
Appearance move to sidebar hide| UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch | ||||
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 The poster for UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | September 16, 2017 (2017-09-16) | |||
| Venue | PPG Paints Arena | |||
| City | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | |||
| Attendance | 7,005 | |||
| Total gate | $396,190.75 | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
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UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch (also known as UFC Fight Night 116) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on September 16, 2017 at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Background
This event was the third that the UFC has hosted in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
A middleweight bout between former Strikeforce and UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold and former WSOF Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Champion David Branch headlined this event.
A heavyweight bout between Justin Ledet and Dmitriy Sosnovskiy was expected to take place at UFC Fight Night: Bermudez vs. The Korean Zombie. However, Ledet pulled out of the fight on January 26 alleging an undisclosed injury, and promotion officials elected to remove Sosnovskiy from the card. In turn, the UFC confirmed that Ledet was suspended for four months after testing positive for a banned substance. The fight was expected to take place at this event. Subsequently, Sosnovskiy was removed from the card on September 10 and was replaced by promotional newcomer Zu Anyanwu.
An August 19 event (originally expected to be UFC 215) had two announced bouts, including a welterweight bout between Mike Perry and former UFC Welterweight Championship challenger Thiago Alves, as well as a middleweight bout between former Bellator Middleweight Champion Héctor Lombard and Anthony Smith. After the event was canceled, both fights took place at this event. In turn, Alves pulled out of the fight on September 13. He was replaced by promotional newcomer Alex Reyes.
A middleweight bout between Krzysztof Jotko and Uriah Hall was expected to take place at UFC Fight Night: Jędrzejczyk vs. Penne in June 2015. However, Hall was removed due to visa issues, and promotion officials elected to remove Jotko from the card as well. The fight took place at this event.
A bantamweight bout between Felipe Arantes and Luke Sanders was pulled from the card after Arantes fell sick on September 14 from an undisclosed illness.
Results
Bonus awards
The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses:
- Fight of the Night: Gregor Gillespie vs Jason Gonzalez
- Performance of the Night: Mike Perry and Uriah Hall
See also
References
- ^ a b c Brian Mazique (2017-09-17). "UFC Fight Night 116 results, bonus winners, fight Scores, highlights, attendance & gate info". forbes.com. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
- ^ Mookie Alexander (2017-06-26). "UFC's late 2017 schedule includes PPV in Detroit, return to MSG in November". bloodyelbow.com. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
- ^ a b Nolan King (2017-07-14). "Sources: UFC Fight Night 116 targeted for September 16th in Pittsburgh". mma-today.com. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
- ^ Mike Bohn (2017-07-22). "Ex-champ Luke Rockhold returns vs. David Branch in September's UFC Fight Night 116 headliner". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
- ^ Fernando Quiles Jr. (2017-01-26). "Justin Ledet off UFC Fight Night card in Houston with an injury". mmanews.com. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
- ^ Staff (2017-02-01). "UFC statement on Justin Ledet". ufc.com. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
- ^ Shaun Al-Shatti (2017-04-05). "UFC heavyweight Justin Ledet accepts four-month USADA suspension". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
- ^ Marcel Dorff (2017-07-13). "Justin Ledet is fighting against Dmitriy Sosnovskiy during UFC Fight Night 116" (in Dutch). mmadna.nl. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
- ^ Eric Kowal (2017-09-10). "Zu Anyanwu gets long awaited call to UFC, fights Saturday in Pittsburgh". mymmanews.com. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
- ^ Ariel Helwani (2017-06-09). "Mike Perry vs. Thiago Alves slated for UFC 215". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
- ^ Steven Marrocco (2017-06-06). "Hector Lombard vs. Anthony Smith targeted for August UFC event". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
- ^ Marcel Dorff (2017-07-15). "Hector Lombard crosses swords with Anthony Smith during UFC Pittsburgh" (in Dutch). mmadna.nl. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
- ^ Ariel Helwani (2017-07-19). "Alves vs. Perry, Lombard vs. Smith slated for UFN: Pittsburgh". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
- ^ John Morgan (2017-09-13). "Thiago Alves out of Saturday's UFC co-headliner; replacement foe sought for Mike Perry". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
- ^ Shaun Al-Shatti (2017-09-13). "With Thiago Alves out, Mike Perry meets newcomer Alex Reyes at UFC Pittsburgh". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
- ^ Staff (2015-06-12). "Three days after UFC Fight Night 69 booking, Uriah Hall pulled from card". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
- ^ David Tees (2017-07-23). "Multiple fights added to UFC Fight Night: Pittsburgh". fansided.com. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
- ^ Dave Doyle (2017-09-14). "Illness forces cancelation of Felipe Arantes vs. Luke Sanders bout at UFC Pittsburgh". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2017-09-14.
- ^ "UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch". Ultimate Fighting Championship. Retrieved 2017-07-22.
