UFC 126

Background

Former Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort was scheduled to fight Yushin Okami at UFC 122. However, UFC President Dana White said that Belfort would instead challenge Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva for the belt. Belfort was originally scheduled to compete against Silva on January 2, 2010, at UFC 108, but due to an injury sustained by Silva, the fight had to be postponed until February 6, 2010, at UFC 109 and April 10, 2010, at UFC 112, respectively. However, both fights were cancelled.{{cite web|url=http://mmajunkie.com/news/17916/shoulder-injury-forces-vitor-belfort-out-of-ufc-112-title-fight-with-anderson-silva.mma|title=Shoulder injury forces Vitor Belfort out of UFC 112 title fight with Anderson Silva

A bout between Kenny Florian and Evan Dunham was expected for this event. The fight was moved to UFC: Fight For The Troops 2.

A bout between Jon Fitch and Jake Ellenberger was expected for this event. However Fitch was pulled from the bout and instead fought former two-division champion B.J. Penn at UFC 127. Ellenberger remained on the card and instead fought Carlos Eduardo Rocha.

Sam Stout was originally scheduled to face Paul Kelly at this event, but dropped off of the card due to injury. Donald Cerrone stepped in to replace him, in what would become the first UFC lightweight fight featuring a fighter imported from the World Extreme Cagefighting following their merger in December 2010.

UFC 126 featured two preliminary fights live on Spike TV, and one preliminary fight on their Facebook stream.

Results

|Middleweight |Anderson Silva (c) |def. |Vitor Belfort |KO (front kick and punches) |1 |3:25 |For the UFC Middleweight Championship |Light Heavyweight |Forrest Griffin |def. |Rich Franklin |Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) |3 |5:00 | |Light Heavyweight |Jon Jones |def. |Ryan Bader |Submission (guillotine choke) |2 |4:20 | |Welterweight |Jake Ellenberger |def. |Carlos Eduardo Rocha |Decision (split) (27–30, 29–28, 29–28) |3 |5:00 | |Bantamweight |Miguel Torres |def. |Antonio Banuelos |Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) |3 |5:00 | |Lightweight |Donald Cerrone |def. |Paul Kelly |Submission (rear-naked choke) |2 |3:48 | |Featherweight |Chad Mendes |def. |Michihiro Omigawa |Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) |3 |5:00 | |Bantamweight |Demetrious Johnson |def. |Norifumi Yamamoto |Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) |3 |5:00 | |Lightweight |Paul Taylor |def. |Gabe Ruediger |KO (head kick and punches) |2 |1:42 | |Light Heavyweight |Kyle Kingsbury |def. |Ricardo Romero |TKO (punches) |1 |0:21 | |Welterweight |Mike Pierce |def. |Kenny Robertson |KO (punches) |2 |0:29 |

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $75,000 bonuses.

• Fight of the Night: Donald Cerrone vs. Paul Kelly
• Knockout of the Night: Anderson Silva
• Submission of the Night: Jon Jones

Reported payout

The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The numbers only include figures that UFC disclosed to the athletic commission; fight bonuses, sponsorship fees, and other unofficial bonuses were not disclosed.

• Anderson Silva: $200,000 (includes no win bonus) def. Vitor Belfort: $275,000
• Forrest Griffin: $275,000 ($150,000 win bonus) def. Rich Franklin: $75,000
• Jon Jones: $140,000 ($70,000 win bonus) def. Ryan Bader: $20,000
• Jake Ellenberger: $32,000 ($16,000 win bonus) def. Carlos Eduardo Rocha: $8,000
• Miguel Torres: $56,000 ($28,000 win bonus) def. Antonio Banuelos: $9,000
• Donald Cerrone: $36,000 ($18,000 win bonus) def. Paul Kelly: $19,000
• Chad Mendes: $19,000 ($9,500 win bonus) def. Michihiro Omigawa: $8,000
• Demetrious Johnson: $10,000 ($5,000 win bonus) def. Norifumi Yamamoto: $15,000
• Paul Taylor: $36,000 ($18,000 win bonus) def. Gabe Ruediger: $8,000
• Kyle Kingsbury: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus) def. Ricardo Romero: $10,000
• Mike Pierce: $28,000 ($14,000 win bonus) def. Kenny Robertson: $6,000

References

References

1. Morgan, John. (2011-02-06). "UFC 126 draws a reported 10,893 attendees for $3.6 million live gate". MMAjunkie.com.
2. (2011-03-25). "UFC 127, 128 PPV Buyrate Updates". MMAPayout.com.
3. (2010-12-07). "UFC® 126 Silva vs. Belfort". Ultimate Fighting Championship.
4. Staff. (2010-08-29). "Vitor Belfort vs. Yushin Okami to headline Spike TV's UFC 122 event in Germany". MMAjunkie.com.
5. Cassidy, Daniel. (2010-09-22). "Belfort vs Silva official; Okami to face Marquardt at UFC 122 (UPDATED)". LowKick.com.
6. Morgan, John. (2009-11-28). "Anderson Silva's recovery slow, not fighting Vitor Belfort at UFC 109". MMAjunkie.com.
7. (2010-11-11). "Florian-Dunham Tops "Fight for the Troops"". Ultimate Fighting Championship.
8. (2010-11-21). "UFC boss says Fitch vs. Penn, Siver vs. Sotiropoulos booked for UFC 127".
9. Whitehead, Lee. (2011-01-03). "Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone Steps In To Face Paul Kelly At UFC 126". MMAWeekly.com.
10. (2011-01-24). "Spike to Air UFC 126 Prelims". Ultimate Fighting Championship.
11. Staff. (2011-02-02). "Facebook to stream one preliminary match". MMAjunkie.com.
12. (2011-02-06). "UFC 126 bonuses: Silva, Jones, Cerrone and Kelly each earn $75K awards". [[MMAjunkie.com]].
13. Staff. (2011-02-07). "UFC 126 salaries: Belfort ($275K), Griffin ($275K), Silva ($200K) are top earners". MMAjunkie.com.