| 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 | [lower-alpha 1] |
| 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 | [lower-alpha 2] |
| 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 | [lower-alpha 3] |
| 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 | [lower-alpha 4] |
| 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 were awarded $60,000 bonuses. [13]
Gilbert Melendez is an American mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a two-time Strikeforce Lightweight Champion and a former WEC Lightweight Champion. He also competed in PRIDE FC, Shooto and Rumble on the Rock.
Jeremy Stephens is an American professional mixed martial artist, bare-knuckle boxer and professional boxer, who competes in the Lightweight division. A professional since 2005, he spent 15 years and competed in 33 bouts in the UFC's Featherweight and Lightweight divisions and also spent time in the Professional Fighters League (PFL).
Timothy A. Boetsch is a retired American professional mixed martial artist who fought in the Middleweight and Light Heavyweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 2006, Boetsch has formerly competed as an alternate for the New York Pitbulls in the International Fight League and King of the Cage.
C. B. Dollaway is an American mixed martial artist currently fighting in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional since 2006, he formerly fought in the UFC and was a finalist on SpikeTV's The Ultimate Fighter 7.
Cain Ramírez Velásquez is an American professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist, currently appearing for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). He is widely known for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he competed in the heavyweight division and became a two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Matt Grice is an American retired mixed martial artist. He was in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, fighting in the featherweight division before suffering a traumatic brain injury in a traffic accident in Shawnee, Oklahoma on September 8, 2013. Grice returned to his old job with the Oklahoma City Police Department in October 2014.
Junior dos Santos is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and former professional wrestler who competes in the Heavyweight division. He is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and current Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA Heavyweight Champion. As a professional wrestler, dos Santos made appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a member of the American Top Team stable.
Luke Skyler Rockhold is an American retired mixed martial artist who is currently signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship and Karate Combat. He formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Middleweight Champion. Rockhold has also competed for Strikeforce, where he was the final Strikeforce Middleweight Champion before the promotion merged with the UFC.
Charles Oliveira da Silva is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and fourth degree black belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner. Oliveira currently competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the former UFC Lightweight Champion. As of April 16, 2024, he is #2 in the UFC lightweight rankings.
Anthony Armand Ferguson Padilla is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a former Interim UFC Lightweight Champion. Ferguson debuted in 2008, and has been with the UFC since he won The Ultimate Fighter 13 in 2011. He is trained in freestyle wrestling, boxing, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, and Wing Chun.
UFC 155: dos Santos vs. Velasquez 2 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 29, 2012, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Bigfoot 2 was a mixed martial arts event held on May 25, 2013, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Rockhold was a mixed martial arts event held on May 18, 2013, at the Arena Jaraguá in Jaraguá do Sul, Brazil. The event was broadcast live on FUEL TV and FX.
UFC 170: Rousey vs. McMann was a mixed martial arts held on February 22, 2014, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Andre Riley Givens-Fili is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Jeremy Larsen is an American mixed martial artist, who formerly competed in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Sean Soriano is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the featherweight division of the UFC.
UFC on Fox: dos Anjos vs. Cowboy 2 was a mixed martial arts event held on December 19, 2015, at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.
UFC on Fox: Teixeira vs. Evans was a mixed martial arts event held on April 16, 2016, at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
UFC 254: Khabib vs. Gaethje was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 24, 2020 at the du Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
