| UFC 166: Velasquez vs. dos Santos III | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 166: Velasquez vs. dos Santos III | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | October 19, 2013 | |||
| Venue | Toyota Center | |||
| City | Houston, Texas | |||
| Attendance | 17,238 [1] | |||
| Total gate | $2.5 million [1] | |||
| Buyrate | 330,000 [2] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 166: Velasquez vs. dos Santos III was a mixed martial arts event held on October 19, 2013, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. [3]
The main event was a UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between the current champion Cain Velasquez and top contender Junior dos Santos. [3] [4] The two have split their two previous encounters with Dos Santos winning the first bout via first round knockout at UFC on Fox: Velasquez vs. dos Santos and then Velasquez winning the rematch via unanimous decision at UFC 155.
A bout between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov was rescheduled from UFC 164 however visa complications left Nurmagomedov unable to compete and was subsequently replaced by Mike Rio.
A bout between George Roop and Francisco Rivera was scheduled for this card, but was moved to UFC Fight Night 31 and replaced by Sarah Kaufman vs. Jessica Eye. [5]
Matt Grice was expected to face Jeremy Larsen at the event. However, Grice was forced out of the bout after sustaining serious injuries in a September 8 car accident in his home state of Oklahoma. [6] Grice was replaced by Charles Oliveira who also lost his original opponent, Estevan Payan, due to injury. [7] Subsequently on October 5, Oliveira pulled out of the Larsen bout citing a strained thigh muscle. [8] Larsen instead faced promotional newcomer Andre Fili. [9]
Luke Rockhold was expected to face Tim Boetsch at the event. However, Rockhold was forced out of the bout citing a knee injury and was replaced by C. B. Dollaway. [10]
Andre Fili weighed in 2.5 pounds too heavy. As a result, 20-percent of Fili's purse was forfeited to his opponent, Jeremy Larsen. [11]
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Heavyweight | Cain Velasquez (c) | def. | Junior dos Santos | TKO (slam and punch) | 5 | 3:09 | [a] |
| Heavyweight | Daniel Cormier | def. | Roy Nelson | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Gilbert Melendez | def. | Diego Sanchez | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Gabriel Gonzaga | def. | Shawn Jordan | KO (punches) | 1 | 1:33 | |
| Flyweight | John Dodson | def. | Darrell Montague | KO (punch) | 1 | 4:13 | |
| Preliminary card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
| Middleweight | Tim Boetsch | def. | C. B. Dollaway | Decision (split) (30–26, 27–29, 30–26) | 3 | 5:00 | [b] |
| Welterweight | Hector Lombard | def. | Nate Marquardt | KO (punches) | 1 | 1:48 | |
| Women's Bantamweight | Jessica Eye | vs. | Sarah Kaufman | No Contest (overturned) | 3 | 5:00 | [c] |
| Lightweight | K. J. Noons | def. | George Sotiropoulos | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (Facebook/Youtube) | |||||||
| Welterweight | Adlan Amagov | def. | TJ Waldburger | KO (punches) | 1 | 3:00 | [d] |
| Lightweight | Tony Ferguson | def. | Mike Rio | Submission (D'Arce choke) | 1 | 1:52 | |
| Catchweight (148.5 lb) | Andre Fili | def. | Jeremy Larsen | TKO (punches) | 2 | 0:53 | |
| Bantamweight | Kyoji Horiguchi | def. | Dustin Pague | TKO (punches) | 2 | 3:51 | |
The following fighters received $60,000 bonuses. [13]
