| UFC 215: Nunes vs. Shevchenko 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 215: Nunes vs. Shevchenko 2 | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | September 9, 2017 | |||
| Venue | Rogers Place | |||
| City | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | |||
| Attendance | 16,232 [1] | |||
| Total gate | $2,028,307 [1] | |||
| Buyrate | 100,000 [2] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 215: Nunes vs. Shevchenko 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on September 9, 2017 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. [3] [4]
The promotion was initially planning a PPV event for August 19 at a venue to be in announced in the United States (presumably Seattle), possibly with UFC Flyweight Champion and Seattle-area resident Demetrious Johnson. However, those plans were nixed on June 26, though no exact reason was given. [4] Therefore, an originally scheduled UFC 216 to be held at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on September 9 was renamed as UFC 215. [3]
While the UFC has hosted many events across Canada, the event was the first held in Edmonton (second in Alberta, after UFC 149 in 2012). Zuffa hosted a World Extreme Cagefighting event, WEC 49, at Rexall Place in Edmonton in June 2010. [3]
A UFC Flyweight Championship bout between current champion Demetrious Johnson and Ray Borg was expected to serve as the event headliner. If successful in his title defense, Johnson would have become the UFC fighter with most title defenses of all time, with a total of eleven. [5] In turn, the fight was canceled a day before the event, as Borg was forced to withdraw from the fight on Thursday evening due to illness. According to multiple sources, Borg was battling an illness and was deemed unfit to fight by UFC doctors. His illness was unrelated to his weight cut, sources say. [6] The fight was later rescheduled for UFC 216 the following month. [7]
A UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship bout between current champion Amanda Nunes and multiple-time Muay Thai world champion Valentina Shevchenko took place at this event. [8] The pairing met previously in March 2016 at UFC 196, with Nunes winning by unanimous decision. [9] The pairing was initially expected to meet again at UFC 213. [10] However, the bout was canceled just hours before the event started as Nunes pulled out, citing an illness despite being medically cleared to fight. [11] Due to the cancelation of the Johnson-Borg bout, this fight acted as the new main event. [6]
A women's bantamweight bout between Sara McMann and Ketlen Vieira was expected to take place at UFC 214, but on July 7 it was announced that the bout was moved to this event. [12]
Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos was expected to face Francis Ngannou, but on August 18 it was announced that he was pulled from the card after being notified by USADA of a potential doping violation. He was flagged after an out-of-competition drug test conducted August 10. [13] Dos Santos tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide and his team is currently working on testing supplements as a possible source for it. [14] In turn, Ngannou was removed from the card after promotion officials deemed that a suitable opponent could not be arranged. [15] [16]
| Main Card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Women's Bantamweight | Amanda Nunes (c) | def. | Valentina Shevchenko | Decision (split) (47–48, 48–47, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | [lower-alpha 1] |
| Welterweight | Rafael dos Anjos | def. | Neil Magny | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | 1 | 3:43 | |
| Flyweight | Henry Cejudo | def. | Wilson Reis | TKO (punches) | 2 | 0:25 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Ilir Latifi | def. | Tyson Pedro | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Jeremy Stephens | def. | Gilbert Melendez | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–26, 30–25) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
| Women's Bantamweight | Ketlen Vieira | def. | Sara McMann | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | 2 | 4:16 | |
| Women's Bantamweight | Sarah Moras | def. | Ashlee Evans-Smith | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 2:51 | |
| Featherweight | Ricky Glenn | def. | Gavin Tucker | Decision (unanimous) (30–25, 30–24, 29–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Alex White | def. | Mitch Clarke | TKO (punches) | 2 | 4:36 | |
| Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Heavyweight | Arjan Bhullar | def. | Luis Henrique | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Kajan Johnson | def. | Adriano Martins | KO (punch) | 3 | 0:49 | |
The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses: [18]
Eddie Wineland is an American retired mixed martial artist, who most recently competed in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor from 2003 until 2022, Wineland was the inaugural WEC Bantamweight Champion.
Wilson Reis Monte Alto Gonçalves is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Flyweight division. Reis is the former EliteXC Bantamweight Champion and has also competed for UFC, Bellator, ShoXC and Cage Warriors. Reis also appeared as an assistant Jiu-Jitsu coach in Dominick Cruz's team on The Ultimate Fighter: Live.
Demetrious Johnson is an American mixed martial artist. He currently competes in ONE Championship, where he is the current ONE Flyweight Champion. He is the inaugural and former UFC Flyweight Champion. Known for his quick striking and elusive movement, Johnson co-holds the record for the latest finish in UFC history with a submission win at 4:59 of the fifth round against Kyoji Horiguchi. Johnson also holds the record for most finishes in UFC flyweight history with 7. Johnson is widely regarded as one of the greatest UFC fighters of all time and is even considered to be the greatest mixed martial arts fighter of all time.
Amanda Nunes is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist. She competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is the former UFC Women's Featherweight Champion and two-time UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. She was ranked #1 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings at the time of her retirement.
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Ray Borg, is an American former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Flyweight and Bantamweight divisions. A professional MMA competitor until 2023, Borg is best known for his 12–fight tenure in the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he competed primarily in the Flyweight division. Before that, he made a name for himself fighting mostly in his native Southwestern United States, competing in promotions like King of the Cage and Legacy Fighting Championship.
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