UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch

Last updated
UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch
Rockhold vs. Branch Poster.jpg
The poster for UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch.
Information
Promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship
DateSeptember 16, 2017 (2017-09-16)
Venue PPG Paints Arena
City Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Attendance7,005 [1]
Total gate$396,190.75 [1]
Event chronology
UFC 215: Nunes vs. Shevchenko 2 UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch UFC Fight Night: Saint Preux vs. Okami

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. [2] [3]

Contents

Background

This event was the third that the UFC has hosted in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [3]

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. [4]

A heavyweight bout between Justin Ledet and Dmitriy Sosnovskiy was expected to take place at UFC Fight Night: Bermudez vs. 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. [5] [6] In turn, the UFC confirmed that Ledet was suspended for four months after testing positive for a banned substance. [7] The fight was expected to take place at this event. [8] Subsequently, Sosnovskiy was removed from the card on September 10 and was replaced by promotional newcomer Zu Anyanwu. [9]

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 Hector Lombard and Anthony Smith. [10] [11] After the event was canceled, both fights took place at this event. [12] [13] In turn, Alves pulled out of the fight on September 13. [14] He was replaced by promotional newcomer Alex Reyes. [15]

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. [16] The fight took place at this event. [17]

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. [18]

Results

Main Card (Fox Sports 1)
Weight classMethodRoundTimeNotes
Middleweight Luke Rockhold def. David Branch TKO (submission to punches)24:04
Welterweight Mike Perry def.Alex ReyesKO (knee)11:19
Middleweight Anthony Smith def. Hector Lombard TKO (punches)32:33
Lightweight Gregor Gillespie def. Jason Gonzalez Submission (arm-triangle choke)22:11
Welterweight Kamaru Usman def. Sérgio Moraes KO (punch)12:48
Heavyweight Justin Ledet def.Zu AnyanwuDecision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)35:00
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)
Lightweight Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Tony Martin Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)35:00
Heavyweight Daniel Spitz def. Anthony Hamilton TKO (punches)10:24
Middleweight Uriah Hall def. Krzysztof Jotko KO (punches)22:25
Lightweight Gilbert Burns def. Jason Saggo KO (punch)24:55

    [19]

    Bonus awards

    The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses: [1]

    See also

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    References

    1. 1 2 3 Brian Mazique (2017-09-17). "UFC Fight Night 116 results, bonus winners, fight Scores, highlights, attendance & gate info". forbes.com. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
    2. ↑ 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.
    3. 1 2 Nolan King (2017-07-14). "Sources: UFC Fight Night 116 targeted for September 16th in Pittsburgh". mma-today.com. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
    4. ↑ 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.
    5. ↑ Fernando Quiles Jr. (2017-01-26). "Justin Ledet off UFC Fight Night card in Houston with an injury". mmanews.com. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
    6. ↑ Staff (2017-02-01). "UFC statement on Justin Ledet". ufc.com. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
    7. ↑ Shaun Al-Shatti (2017-04-05). "UFC heavyweight Justin Ledet accepts four-month USADA suspension". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
    8. ↑ 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.
    9. ↑ Eric Kowal (2017-09-10). "Zu Anyanwu gets long awaited call to UFC, fights Saturday in Pittsburgh". mymmanews.com. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
    10. ↑ Ariel Helwani (2017-06-09). "Mike Perry vs. Thiago Alves slated for UFC 215". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
    11. ↑ Steven Marrocco (2017-06-06). "Hector Lombard vs. Anthony Smith targeted for August UFC event". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
    12. ↑ Marcel Dorff (2017-07-15). "Hector Lombard crosses swords with Anthony Smith during UFC Pittsburgh" (in Dutch). mmadna.nl. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
    13. ↑ Ariel Helwani (2017-07-19). "Alves vs. Perry, Lombard vs. Smith slated for UFN: Pittsburgh". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
    14. ↑ 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.
    15. ↑ 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.
    16. ↑ Staff (2015-06-12). "Three days after UFC Fight Night 69 booking, Uriah Hall pulled from card". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
    17. ↑ David Tees (2017-07-23). "Multiple fights added to UFC Fight Night: Pittsburgh". fansided.com. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
    18. ↑ Dave Doyle (2017-09-14). "Illness forces cancelation of Felipe Arantes vs. Luke Sanders bout at UFC Pittsburgh". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2017-09-14.
    19. ↑ "UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch". Ultimate Fighting Championship. Retrieved 2017-07-22.
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