| UFC on Fox: Lawler vs. dos Anjos | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC on Fox: Lawler vs. dos Anjos. | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | December 16, 2017 | |||
| Venue | Bell MTS Place | |||
| City | Winnipeg, Canada | |||
| Attendance | 8,862 [1] | |||
| Total gate | $781,359 [1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC on Fox: Lawler vs. dos Anjos (also known as UFC on Fox 26) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on December 16, 2017, at the Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Canada. [2]
The event was the second that the promotion has hosted in Winnipeg, following UFC 161 in June 2013. [2]
The event was headlined by a welterweight bout between former UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler and former UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos. [3] On October 13, UFC President Dana White announced that the winner of the main event would receive a title shot against current champion Tyron Woodley, who won the belt by defeating Lawler by first-round knockout at UFC 201. [4]
A light heavyweight bout between Antônio Rogério Nogueira and Jared Cannonier, briefly linked to UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Pettis, was instead scheduled for this event. [5] [6] However, on October 19, it was announced that Nogueira was pulled from the card after being notified by USADA of a potential doping violation, which resulted from an out-of-competition sample collected on September 27. The violation was due to a positive test for hydrochlorothiazide. [7] He was replaced by Jan Błachowicz. [8]
A light heavyweight bout between former UFC Light Heavyweight Championship challenger Glover Teixeira and Misha Cirkunov was expected to take place at UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Machida, but was moved to this event after a recent hand injury for Teixeira was slow to heal and required surgery. [9]
Former WEC Featherweight Champion and two time UFC Featherweight Champion José Aldo was scheduled to face former title challenger Ricardo Lamas in a rematch in the co-headliner. [10] The pairing met previously at UFC 169 in February 2014, with Aldo defending his title via unanimous decision. [11] However, Aldo was removed from the bout on November 10 in favor of a rematch against the current champion Max Holloway two weeks earlier at UFC 218 after Holloway's scheduled opponent, former UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar pulled out of that fight. [12] He was replaced by Josh Emmett. [13]
A middleweight bout between Vitor Miranda and promotional newcomer Julian Marquez was expected to take place at this event. However, on December 4, it was announced that Miranda was pulled from the fight, citing injury and was replaced by Darren Stewart. [14]
Sultan Aliev and Sheldon Westcott were removed out of their respective fights against Nordine Taleb and Danny Roberts for undisclosed reasons. Taleb and Roberts were then scheduled to face each other. [14]
A flyweight bout between former title challenger and The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions flyweight winner Tim Elliott and Justin Scoggins was expected to take place at this event. However, on December 3, it was announced that Scoggins was pulled from the fight due to a spinal fracture injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Pietro Menga. [15] In turn, Menga also withdrew from the bout during fight week following weight-cutting complications and the bout was scrapped entirely. [16]
At the weigh ins, Emmett weighed in at 148.5 pounds, 2.5 pounds over the featherweight non-title fight upper limit of 146 pounds. As such, the bout proceeded at a catchweight and Emmett is expected to forfeit part of his purse to his opponent Lamas. Meanwhile, Menga did not weigh in and his fight against Elliott was canceled. [17]
| Main Card (Fox) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Welterweight | Rafael dos Anjos | def. | Robbie Lawler | Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 50–45, 50–45) | 5 | 5:00 | [lower-alpha 1] |
| Catchweight (148.5 lb) | Josh Emmett | def. | Ricardo Lamas | KO (punch) | 1 | 4:33 | |
| Welterweight | Santiago Ponzinibbio | def. | Mike Perry | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Glover Teixeira | def. | Misha Cirkunov | TKO (punches) | 1 | 2:45 | |
| Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
| Light Heavyweight | Jan Błachowicz | def. | Jared Cannonier | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Julian Marquez | def. | Darren Stewart | Submission (guillotine choke) | 2 | 2:42 | |
| Welterweight | Chad Laprise | def. | Galore Bofando | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:10 | |
| Welterweight | Nordine Taleb | def. | Danny Roberts | KO (head kick, elbow and punch) | 1 | 0:59 | |
| Lightweight | John Makdessi | def. | Abel Trujillo | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Alessio Di Chirico | def. | Oluwale Bamgbose | KO (knee) | 2 | 2:14 | |
| Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Welterweight | Jordan Mein | def. | Erick Silva | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses: [19]
Robert Lawler is an American professional mixed martial artist who has been competing since 2001. He is the former UFC Welterweight Champion, former EliteXC Middleweight Champion, and has formerly competed in Strikeforce, PRIDE, and the IFL. Known for his aggressive fighting style, Lawler is the only fighter to have won three consecutive "Fight of the Year" awards from Sherdog and MMA Fighting, for his bouts against Johny Hendricks, Rory MacDonald, and Carlos Condit.
Antônio Rogério Nogueira, also known as Lil Nog or Minotouro, is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist currently signed with the UFC. He is the twin brother of Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, the "Minotauro", earning Rogério the nickname "Minotouro". A proficient amateur boxer, he was the 2006 and 2007 Brazilian Super Heavyweight Champion. He also won a bronze medal in the 2007 Pan American Games.
Rafael Souza dos Anjos is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He currently fights in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Lightweight Champion. He has also competed at Welterweight. As of November 2, 2021, he is #6 in the UFC lightweight rankings.
José Aldo da Silva Oliveira Júnior, commonly anglicized as Jose Aldo, is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the Bantamweight division. He also competed at Featherweight, and was the fourth and final WEC Featherweight Champion. He became the first UFC Featherweight Champion following the UFC/WEC merger,. Aldo is widely considered as one the best mixed martial artists of all-time, and as the greatest featherweight ever. As of December 6, 2021, he is ranked #3 in the UFC bantamweight rankings.
Ricardo Alejandro Lamas is a retired American professional mixed martial artist who competed in Featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
UFC 133: Evans vs. Ortiz was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 6, 2011 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann 2 was a mixed martial arts event held on August 28, 2013, at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event was broadcast live on Fox Sports 1.
UFC 171: Hendricks vs. Lawler was a mixed martial arts event that was held on March 15, 2014, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Justin Craig Scoggins is an American mixed martial artist and former full-contact kickboxer currently competing in the Rizin Fighting Federation. A professional mixed martial artist since 2010, Scoggins has previously competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Bader was a mixed martial arts event held on January 30, 2016, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz was a mixed martial arts event held on March 5, 2016 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor was a mixed martial arts event promoted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on November 12, 2016, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
Jared Christopher "JC" Cannonier is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently fights in the Middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of February 14, 2022, he is #2 in the UFC middleweight rankings.
UFC 214: Cormier vs. Jones 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship and held on July 29, 2017 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Joshua James Emmett is an American professional mixed martial artist. Emmett currently competes in the featherweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2011, Emmett has also competed for King of the Cage. As of December 13, 2021, he is #6 in the UFC featherweight rankings.
UFC 218: Holloway vs. Aldo 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on December 2, 2017, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Pettis was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on November 11, 2017, at Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Virginia.
UFC on Fox: Emmett vs. Stephens was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on February 24, 2018, at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, United States.
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.
UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 12, 2022 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, United States.
