| UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | February 5, 2011 | |||
| Venue | Mandalay Bay Events Center | |||
| City | Las Vegas, Nevada | |||
| Attendance | 10,893 [1] | |||
| Total gate | $3,600,000 [1] | |||
| Buyrate | 725,000 [2] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 5, 2011, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. [3]
Former Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort was scheduled to fight Yushin Okami at UFC 122. [4] However, UFC President Dana White said that Belfort would instead challenge Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva for the belt. [5] Belfort was originally scheduled to compete against Silva on January 2, 2010, at UFC 108, but due to an injury sustained by Silva, the fight had to be postponed until February 6, 2010, at UFC 109 and April 10, 2010, at UFC 112, respectively. However, both fights were cancelled. [6] [7]
A bout between Kenny Florian and Evan Dunham was expected for this event. The fight was moved to UFC: Fight For The Troops 2. [8]
A bout between Jon Fitch and Jake Ellenberger was expected for this event. However Fitch was pulled from the bout and instead fought former two-division champion B.J. Penn at UFC 127. [9] Ellenberger remained on the card and instead fought Carlos Eduardo Rocha.
Sam Stout was originally scheduled to face Paul Kelly at this event, but dropped off of the card due to injury. Donald Cerrone stepped in to replace him, in what would become the first UFC lightweight fight featuring a fighter imported from the World Extreme Cagefighting following their merger in December 2010. [10]
UFC 126 featured two preliminary fights live on Spike TV, [11] and one preliminary fight on their Facebook stream. [12]
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Middleweight | Anderson Silva (c) | def. | Vitor Belfort | KO (front kick and punches) | 1 | 3:25 | [lower-alpha 1] |
| Light Heavyweight | Forrest Griffin | def. | Rich Franklin | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Jon Jones | def. | Ryan Bader | Submission (guillotine choke) | 2 | 4:20 | |
| Welterweight | Jake Ellenberger | def. | Carlos Eduardo Rocha | Decision (split) (27–30, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Miguel Torres | def. | Antonio Banuelos | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (Spike) | |||||||
| Lightweight | Donald Cerrone | def. | Paul Kelly | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 3:48 | |
| Featherweight | Chad Mendes | def. | Michihiro Omigawa | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (Facebook) | |||||||
| Bantamweight | Demetrious Johnson | def. | Norifumi Yamamoto | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card | |||||||
| Lightweight | Paul Taylor | def. | Gabe Ruediger | KO (head kick and punches) | 2 | 1:42 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Kyle Kingsbury | def. | Ricardo Romero | TKO (punches) | 1 | 0:21 | |
| Welterweight | Mike Pierce | def. | Kenny Robertson | KO (punches) | 2 | 0:29 | |
Fighters were awarded $75,000 bonuses. [13]
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. [14] The numbers only include figures that UFC disclosed to the athletic commission; fight bonuses, sponsorship fees, and other unofficial bonuses were not disclosed.
Vítor Vieira Belfort is a Brazilian professional boxer and retired mixed martial artist who competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought in the Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight and Middleweight divisions. He is the UFC 12 Heavyweight Tournament Champion, as well as a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and Cage Rage World Light Heavyweight Champion. Known for his explosive knockout power, Belfort is tied for fifth for the most finishes in UFC history with 14. Belfort also competed for MMA promotions Pride FC, Strikeforce, Affliction, and Cage Rage.
Anderson da Silva is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and professional boxer. He is a former UFC Middleweight Champion and holds the record for the longest title reign in UFC history at 2,457 days. This started in 2006 and ended in 2013 and included a UFC record 16 consecutive victories in that span. Silva left the UFC in November 2020 and returned to boxing.
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Kelvin Gastelum is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Gastelum earned a contract with the UFC after winning The Ultimate Fighter 17 in 2013. Gastelum has also competed in the middleweight division.
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