UFC 128

Background

This event was expected to take place in Abu Dhabi, the promotion's first return to the United Arab Emirates since UFC 112. However, the organization scrapped the idea after a suitable location for the event could not be finalized in time, since the temporary venue that hosted UFC 112 had been dismantled.

A bout between Tito Ortiz and Antônio Rogério Nogueira, was linked to this event, but was moved to headline UFC Fight Night 24.

A bout between Brendan Schaub and Frank Mir was expected for this event. However, Schaub ended up fighting Mirko Cro Cop.

A bout between Chael Sonnen and Yoshihiro Akiyama was briefly reported but Sonnen pleaded guilty to federal charges of money laundering and had his contract placed on hold by the UFC. Nate Marquardt was then signed to compete against Akiyama. However, on March 12, it was announced that Yoshihiro Akiyama had to pull out of his fight with Nate Marquardt due to the tragedy in Japan. Dana White then announced via Twitter that Dan Miller would be stepping up from the preliminary fights to replace Akiyama on the main card. Miller's original opponent Nick Catone instead faced UFC newcomer Costas Philippou in a 195-pound catchweight bout.

During Jon Jones' post-fight interview following his victory over Ryan Bader at UFC 126, Joe Rogan announced that Rashad Evans had injured his knee during training. Jones was then informed that the UFC wanted him to replace Evans in a fight against Maurício Rua in the main event for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Jones accepted, and the fight was set for this event.

Quinton Jackson was originally offered the fight before Jon Jones. He declined the fight saying he would never take a fight with only a four-week notice. He also stated that he currently weighed 250 pounds and would have to lose 45 pounds in that four week time period and would not have time to actually train.

Karlos Vemola was scheduled to face Luiz Cane on the card, but Vemola was forced out of the fight with an injury. Eliot Marshall stepped in and replaced Vemola.

Manvel Gamburyan was scheduled to take on Raphael Assunção, but withdrew due to a back injury on February 25. Erik Koch stepped in and faced Assunção, as Koch's original opponent for the UFC on Versus 3 event two weeks prior to UFC 128, Cub Swanson, pulled out due to injury around the same time as Gamburyan.

UFC 128 featured two preliminary fights live on Spike TV, and on March 7, it was announced that the Almeida vs Pyle and Pellegrino vs Tibau fights would stream live on the UFC's official Facebook page.

Bruce Buffer announced that Mike Pyle defeated Ricardo Almeida by scores of 29–28, 30–27 and 30–27. However, the official scorecards showed that Pyle actually won the fight with scores of 29–28 across the board.

On March 17, Dana White announced on an episode of MMA Live that Rashad Evans would be offered the next light heavyweight title shot against the winner of the main event. Instead, Jones made his first title defense against Quinton Jackson on September 24, 2011, at UFC 135.

Results

|Light Heavyweight |Jon Jones |def. |Maurício Rua (c) |TKO (knees and punches) |3 |2:37 |For UFC Light Heavyweight Championship |Bantamweight |Urijah Faber |def. |Eddie Wineland |Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) |3 |5:00 | |Lightweight |Jim Miller |def. |Kamal Shalorus |TKO (knee and punches) |3 |2:15 | |Middleweight |Nate Marquardt |def. |Dan Miller |Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) |3 |5:00 | |Heavyweight |Brendan Schaub |def. |Mirko Cro Cop |KO (punch) |3 |3:44 | |Light Heavyweight |Luiz Cané |def. |Eliot Marshall |TKO (punches) |1 |2:15 | |Lightweight |Edson Barboza |def. |Anthony Njokuani |Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) |3 |5:00 | |Welterweight |Mike Pyle |def. |Ricardo Almeida |Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) |3 |5:00 | |Lightweight |Gleison Tibau |def. |Kurt Pellegrino |Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) |3 |5:00 | |Bantamweight |Joseph Benavidez |def. |Ian Loveland |Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) |3 |5:00 | |Catchweight (195 lb) |Nick Catone |def. |Costas Philippou |Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) |3 |5:00 | |Featherweight |Erik Koch |def. |Raphael Assunção |KO (punch) |1 |2:32 |This bout aired on the Spike broadcast following the Marshall vs. Cane fight and the PPV broadcast following the Rua vs. Jones fight.

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $70,000 bonuses.

• Fight of the Night: Edson Barboza vs. Anthony Njokuani
• Knockout of the Night: Brendan Schaub and Erik Koch
• Submission of the Night: Not awarded as no matches ended by submission.

References

References

1. "UFC 128 draws a reported 12,619 attendees for $2.14 million live gate". MMAjunkie.
2. "UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones". ufc.com.
3. (March 9, 2011). "Full UFC 128 Fight Card Announced". Ultimate Fighting Championship.
4. (November 10, 2010). "UFC Returns to Abu Dhabi for UFC 128 on March 19th". bloodyelbow.com.
5. (November 10, 2010). "UFC 128 Headed to Abu Dhabi in March; Shogun vs. Evans Possible". MMAWeekly.com.
6. (December 16, 2010). "UFC's Abu Dhabi Return Scrapped". mmacombine.com.
7. (December 21, 2010). "Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Tito Ortiz headlines UFC Fight Night 24 in Seattle". mmajunkie.com.
8. (December 13, 2010). "Frank Mir vs. Brendan Schaub also Stefan Struve vs. Brendan Schaub was targeted for early-2011 UFC event". mmajunkie.com.
9. (December 28, 2010). "Filipovic vs. Schaub at UFC 128". fightersonly.com.
10. "Guilty plea shadows Chael Sonnen vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 128".
11. "Following money laundering conviction, Chael Sonnen suspended by UFC".
12. Brett Okamoto. (January 6, 2011). "Sources: Marquardt vs. Akiyama at 128". [[ESPN]].
13. (12 March 2011). "Japan's Akiyama pulls out of UFC 128; Miller in".
14. (March 12, 2011). "Yoshihiro Akiyama out at UFC 128; Dan Miller now faces Nate Marquardt". mmajunkie.com.
15. (February 5, 2011). "Rashad Evans hurt, Jon Jones now challenges Shogun Rua for title at UFC 128". mmajunkie.com.
16. (February 7, 2011). ""Rampage" Jackson cites poor timing, weight for UFC 128 title-fight decline". mmajunkie.com.
17. (February 22, 2011). "Karlos Vemola out, Luiz Cane without opponent for UFC 128".
18. (February 23, 2011). "Eliot Marshall returns, steps in to meet Luiz Cane at UFC 128". mmajunkie.com.
19. (February 25, 2011). "Manny Gamburyan Pulls Out Of UFC 128". mmafighting.com.
20. (February 25, 2011). "Featherweight Manny Gamburyan out at UFC 128 in New Jersey". mmajunkie.com.
21. (February 26, 2011). "With opponents injured, Koch/Assuncao tabbed for UFC 128". Sherdog.com.
22. (March 2, 2011). "Spike TV confirms "UFC Prelims" special for March's UFC 128 event". mmajunkie.com.
23. (March 7, 2011). "UFC 128's Almeida vs. Pyle, Pellegrino vs. Tibau to stream on Facebook". mmajunkie.com.
24. (March 23, 2011). "UFC 128 official scorecard images". heavymma.com.
25. (March 17, 2011). "Dana White: Rashad Evans to fight the winner of 'Shogun vs Jones'". mmamania.com.
26. (June 15, 2011). "As expected, champ Jon Jones and challenger "Rampage" Jackson headline UFC 135". mmajunkie.
27. (2011-03-20). "UFC 128 bonuses: Schaub, Koch, Barboza and Njokuani each earn $70K". mmajunkie.com.
28. (2011-03-20). "UFC 128 Post-Fight Bonsues Revealed". MMAWeekly.com.