UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Brunson

UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Brunson
The poster for UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Brunson
Information
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	November 27, 2016 (2016-11-27)
Venue	Rod Laver Arena
City	Melbourne, Australia
Attendance	13,721 [1]
Total gate	2,200,000 AUD [1]
Event chronology
UFC Fight Night: Bader vs. Nogueira 2 UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Brunson The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions Finale

UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Brunson (also known as UFC Fight Night 101) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on November 27, 2016, at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. ^{[2] [3]}

Background

This event was the second that the organization hosted in Melbourne, with the first being UFC 193 in November 2015. ^[2]

The event was expected to be headlined by a middleweight rematch between former Strikeforce and UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold and former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Ronaldo Souza. ^{[2] [3]} The duo first met in September 2011 at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov, in which Rockhold won a unanimous decision to capture Souza's title. ^[4] However, on November 1, Rockhold was ruled out of the contest due to a sprained ACL. Subsequently, Souza was removed from the card entirely and is expected to be rescheduled for another event. ^[5] In turn, a middleweight bout between The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight winner Robert Whittaker and Derek Brunson was elevated to serve as the event headliner. ^[6]

Rod Laver Arena is widely known as the venue which hosts the annual Australian Open in tennis.

As a result of the cancellation of UFC Fight Night: Lamas vs. Penn, bouts between Yao Zhikui vs. Jenel Lausa and Seo Hee Ham vs. Danielle Taylor were rescheduled for this event. ^{[7] [8]}

On October 21, it was announced that Dominique Steele pulled out of his scheduled bout against Kyle Noke due to an undisclosed injury and was replaced by Omari Akhmedov. ^[9]

The Ultimate Fighter: China featherweight winner Ning Guangyou was expected to face Marlon Vera at UFC 202. However, due to an out-of-competition failed test and following investigation concluding Ning ingested the substance without fault or negligence, the bout was moved to UFC on Fox: Maia vs. Condit. ^[10] In turn, the bout was postponed again due to alleged visa issues for Ning, which restricted the timing of his travel. ^[11] The fight was later rescheduled for this event. ^[12]

Results

Main Card (Fox Sports 1)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Middleweight	Robert Whittaker	def.	Derek Brunson	TKO (head kick and punches)	1	4:07
Lightweight	Andrew Holbrook	def.	Jake Matthews	Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28)	3	5:00
Welterweight	Omari Akhmedov	def.	Kyle Noke	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27)	3	5:00
Lightweight	Alexander Volkanovski	def	Yusuke Kasuya	TKO (punches)	2	2:06
Light Heavyweight	Tyson Pedro	def.	Khalil Rountree Jr.	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	4:07
Women's Strawweight	Danielle Taylor	def.	Seo Hee Ham	Decision (split) (28–29, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)
Middleweight	Dan Kelly	def.	Chris Camozzi	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Lightweight	Damien Brown	def.	Jon Tuck	Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Welterweight	Jonathan Meunier	def.	Richard Walsh	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Flyweight	Ben Nguyen	def.	Geane Herrera	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–26, 30–27)	3	5:00
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Featherweight	Jason Knight	def.	Dan Hooker	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–26)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Marlon Vera	def.	Ning Guangyou	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Flyweight	Jenel Lausa	def.	Yao Zhikui	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00

^[13]

Bonus awards

The following fighters were awarded $60,000 bonuses: ^[14]

• Fight of the Night: Robert Whittaker vs. Derek Brunson
• Performance of the Night:Robert Whittaker and Tyson Pedro

See also

• Australia portal
• Martial Arts portal

• 2016 in UFC
• List of UFC events
• Mixed martial arts in Australia

References

1. Staff (2016-11-27). "UFC Fight Night 101 draws announced sell-out of 13,721 for $2.2 million AUD live gate". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2016-11-27.
2. Staff (2016-09-11). "Luke Rockhold and 'Jacare' Souza set to rematch at UFC Fight Night 101". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
3. Thomas Gerbasi (2016-09-11). "Rockhold-Souza II headlines "Down Under" in November". ufc.com. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
4. Jesse Holland (2013-04-28). "History in the making: Luke Rockhold upsets 'Jacare' Souza to win Strikeforce middleweight title". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
5. Ariel Helwani (2016-11-01). "Luke Rockhold vs. Ronaldo "Jacaré" Souza rematch canceled". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
6. Danny Segura (2016-11-02). "Robert Whittaker vs. Derek Brunson promoted to main event of UFC Fight Night 101 in Australia". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
7. Anton Tabuena (2016-10-12). "UFC Manila's Lausa vs Zhikui re-booked for UFN: Rockhold vs Jacare 2". bloodyelbow.com. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
8. John Hyon Ko (2016-10-14). "Seo-Hee Ham vs Danielle Taylor shifted to UFC Fight Night 101 in Melbourne". thefightnation.com. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
9. Mark Gottlieb (2016-10-23). "Dom Steele pulls out of Melbourne fight against Kyle Noke, replaced by Omari "Wolverine" Akhmedov". foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
10. Marc Raimondi (2016-08-09). "UFC's Ning Guangyou fails drug test for clenbuterol, USADA finds no fault". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
11. Thomas Gerbasi (2016-08-22). "Guangyou-Vera bout off Vancouver card". ufc.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
12. ATSteveDuncan (2016-10-13). "Chito Vera enfrentará a Ning Guangyou en UFC Fight Night 101". mma.uno. Retrieved 2016-11-15.(in Spanish)
13. "UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Brunson". Ultimate Fighting Championship. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
14. Staff (2016-11-27). "UFC Fight Night 101 bonuses: Robert Whittaker is walking away with an extra $190,000". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2016-11-27.