UFC 120
UFC 120: Bisping vs. Akiyama | ||||
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O2 Arena | ||||
City | London, United Kingdom | |||
Attendance | 17,133[1] | |||
Total gate | $2,560,000[1] | |||
Event chronology | ||||
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UFC 120: Bisping vs. Akiyama was a
The card featured six televised MMA bouts, as well as four un-aired preliminary bouts.The main event featured
The first ever UK
The event was the fourth the UFC has hosted at the
Background
Main event
The main event featured The Ultimate Fighter 3 tournament winner Michael Bisping facing off against the Japanese judoka practitioner Yoshihiro Akiyama in a fight contested at the UFC middleweight limit of 185 pounds (84 kg). Michael Bisping sought to defeat Akiyama in his home country in the hope of moving closer to the UFC Middleweight Championship picture.[3] Additionally, Bisping looked to maintain his perfect record in Europe, having only ever been defeated in the United States and Australia.[3]
Bisping came into the fight with an MMA record of 19 wins and 3 losses, of which 9 wins and 3 losses were within the
Akiyama came into the bout with an MMA record of 13 wins, 2 losses and 2 no-contests, of which one win and one loss took place within the Ultimate Fighting Championship.[4] Akiyama was an incredibly popular[clarification needed] personality in his home nations of South Korea and Japan and whilst his signing wasn't particularly celebrated in the United States or England,[10] it was big news in the far east,[10] where Akiyama is known not only for his fighting career, but also for his singing career and his status as a mild fashion icon, which led to the forming of his nickname "Sexyama".[11] Despite his popularity in the far east, Akiyama had not yet headlined a UFC event prior to UFC 120, having only competed twice in the United States.[12] His U.S. debut came at UFC 100, in the opening bout on the UFC 100 pay-per-view event against Alan Belcher, where Akiyama won via a disputed split decision (30–27, 28–29, 29–28). Many pundits were vocal in their disagreement with Akiyama winning the bout,[13][14] with even UFC president Dana White stating "I wasn't 100 percent sure of the decision, you know what I mean, but I think it was a tough fight to score, too".[15] Akiyama's second UFC appearance (and final appearance prior to UFC 120) was the co-main event of UFC 116 against Chris Leben. Unlike the Belcher fight, Akiyama was regarded as the aggressor throughout the bout and was most likely en route to another decision victory.[12][16] However, with seconds left in the final round, Leben was able to secure a triangle choke submission to force Akiyama to tap-out.[12] Despite the loss, the bout was regarded as highly entertaining and both Leben and Akiyama took away the "Fight of the Night" bonus, worth $75,000.[16][17] The fight was Akiyama's first loss in over five years[17] and it led to Akiyama moving his training camp to Albuquerque, New Mexico, under the tutelage of Greg Jackson,[17] the World MMA Awards "Trainer of the Year" in 2010[18] and 2011.[19][20]
Prior to the main event, both fighters seemed confident due to their new trainers. Akiyama was quoted as saying "I felt like he didn't have enough time to prepare for my opponent [Leben] and so during the fight I wasn't able to come up with a strategy that is specifically for Chris Leben."[4] Akiyama also mentioned "I was able to learn the intricate skills of the takedowns, as well as better striking for MMA. I feel like [I have] a better takedown than Bisping does."[4] Bisping responded by stating: "With respect, I couldn't care less who he trains with. He can train with anyone. What I'm focusing on these days is what I do, focusing on my training. And he can worry about what I'm bringing to the table. My training's going fantastic. I feel in great shape. I've improved all my areas. Regardless of who he's training with, I think I'll be too much for him. Now everything's coming together. Mario Sukata, he's always been my MMA coach. But I've been working with some new striking coaches, strength and conditioning coaches, new boxing coaches, a new wrestling coach."[4]
Co-main event
The co-main event featured recent
Hardy entered the fight with an MMA record of 23 wins, 7 losses with 1 no contest, of which 4 wins and 1 loss came in fights within the UFC.
Condit entered the fight with an MMA record of 25 wins and 5 losses, of which 2 wins and 1 loss were in the UFC.
Pre-fight hype for the co-main event focused on Hardy's well-documented desire to fight someone who could put on an entertaining fight. Hardy was vocal in his criticism of Nik Lentz after Lentz defeated Hardy's teammate, Andre Winner in a fight marred by a perceived lack of action.[29] Before his fight with Condit, Hardy said "Rather than saying "oh, these guys can't wrestle", I think the problem is there's beginning to be too much wrestling in the UFC Octagon, not too little of it in the gym. There are a lot of people out there calling themselves "UFC fighters" who are nothing of the kind. In the UFC, you should go for finishes."[29] The comments drew criticism by fighters and pundits who believed he was referring to his fight against Georges St-Pierre,[30] which Hardy later denied, stating: "People are assuming I'm making these comments because of that fight and I'm not. [St-Pierre] had his submissions attempts, and he played the game the right way. I was under pressure in the fight – there was no point where he was just holding me down. But there are some fighters who think, 'I've got a takedown, I can rest a bit here now.' There just isn't the intention to damage the opponent or submit them."[30] When Hardy was paired up with Condit (ironically a teammate of St-Pierre's), Hardy seemed happy with the match-up, saying "When Joe Silva [the UFC matchmaker] called me up and said 'How about Condit?' I said to myself, 'That's an awesome fight.' I know he's going to come to have a fight, there's no doubt about it, he'll do everything he can to win. That's what I'm interested in."[30]
Main card
The third main card bout featured English fighter John Hathaway facing MMA veteran Mike Pyle in the welterweight division. Hathaway was coming off an upset victory over The Ultimate Fighter 1 winner, Diego Sanchez[31] Hathaway was regarded as England's top prospect due to his takedown defence being higher than most fighters in the country.[31] Hathaway was also undefeated, holding an MMA record of 14 wins and 0 defeats, with 4 of those wins coming in UFC events.[32] Pyle was an experienced veteran, holding a professional MMA record of 20 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw and a UFC record of 2–2.[32] His most recent fight prior to UFC 120 was a win over Jesse Lennox at UFC 115 via triangle choke submission.[32] Before the fight, Pyle sought to downplay the achievement of Hathaway defeating Diego Sanchez, stating: "Diego's a small, somewhat average-(sized) [155-pound fighter]."[32] Hathaway responded by stating "I definitely think he's [Pyle] a step up. [Pyle is] incredibly experienced and very dangerous. I think he finishes like 80 to 90 percent of his fights by submission, so he's definitely a dangerous opponent."[32]
Also on the main card was a
The opening fight on the main card was a welterweight contest between Claude Patrick and the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom, James Wilks. Prior to the fight, Wilks had an MMA record of 7 wins and 3 losses, with 2 wins and a loss coming within the UFC.[35] Patrick, who had an MMA record of 12 wins and 1 loss, was making his second UFC appearance, having won in his debut via guillotine choke just a few months earlier.[35]
Injuries and replacements
Dan Hardy was originally scheduled to fight Dustin Hazelett at this event before Hazelett pulled out because of his wedding in September.[36] Carlos Condit replaced Hazelett as Dan Hardy's opponent.[21] John Hathaway was also expected to fight the then-undefeated Dong Hyun Kim. However, Kim was forced off the card with an elbow injury sustained during training and was replaced by Mike Pyle.[37]
Tom Blackledge, an assistant coach for Team Rampage on
Steve Cantwell was scheduled to fight Stanislav Nedkov, however the fight was cancelled less than 48 hours prior to the event, after Cantwell suffered a knee injury in training.[41]
Card criticism
UFC 120 had drawn criticism before it had even taken place. The most common theme was that pundits and fans felt that the UFC events held in England were too focused on English fighters, rather than the "big name", world recognised fighters that audiences in the United States were used to.
The criticism resulted in members of the UFC – both management and fighters – defending the event. The UK president of the UFC, Marshall Zelaznik stated: "Obviously, championship fights for the most part are elevated to the pay-per-view cards. The pay-per-view cards over here, because of the time change, make it a bit of a challenge in the U.S. to see the impact you're hoping to see from the championship fights."[43] In an effort to appease the dissatisfied fans, he also added: "It's a bit of a business decision, but that's not to say we'll never have a pay-per-view here or we'll never have a championship fight here."[43]
John Hathaway, who was competing on the main card at UFC 120 said: "I think it's a good card. It's great to see so many British fighters fighting international opponents. I'm more than happy with the card, I'm happy to compete, and I'm always keen to put a good performance on for the fans."[46]
Dana White, the UFC president also defended the event, stating: "You cannot say a card sucks until it's over. It's like when we are sitting down and debating over who is going to win a fight. The cards get criticised and those are the events that normally end up being the most exciting, with great fights on them. At the end of the day you are paying to see good fights as a fan. I guarantee the card we are bringing to England will be great."[47]
UFC Fan Expo
The UFC also held their first ever international Fan Expo, having held their first ever expo at UFC 100.[48] It was held at Earls Court Exhibition Centre on October 15 and 16 and it allowed fans to visit over 100 MMA-related vendors and also get autographs from several UFC fighters who attended the expo.[48] Around two dozen fighters were announced for the event to sign autographs and interact with fans,[49] with other fighters, such as Randy Couture and Wanderlei Silva holding their own seminars.[50]
Attendance and gate figures
Despite the negative reaction to the event and its participants, Marshall Zelaznik announced that UFC 120 was expected to break the European attendance and gate receipts records,[51] having sold out the original seating plan.[52] The gate record prior was 16,693, set by UFC 105, with the record gate receipts coming in at $2.7m at UFC 75.[51] This later proved partially correct, as the event set a new European attendance record of 17,133, but fell just short of the gate receipts figure with $2.56m.[1] With over 17,000 spectators, the event became, at that time, the ninth most attended event in UFC history.[1]
Despite the record attendance, the viewing figures on Spike TV were reduced from the last event to take place in England. UFC 120 averaged 1.9 million viewers, whereas UFC 105, in November 2009 had averaged 2.9 million.[53]
Results
Main Card | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
Middleweight | Michael Bisping | def. | Yoshihiro Akiyama | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
Welterweight | Carlos Condit | def. | Dan Hardy | KO (punch) | 1 | 4:27 | |
Welterweight | Mike Pyle | def. | John Hathaway | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
Heavyweight | Cheick Kongo | vs. | Travis Browne | Draw (unanimous) (28–28, 28–28, 28–28) | 3 | 5:00 | [a] |
Welterweight | Claude Patrick | def. | James Wilks | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
Preliminary card | |||||||
Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
Light Heavyweight | Alexander Gustafsson | def. | Cyrille Diabaté | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 2:41 | |
Heavyweight | Rob Broughton | def. | Vinicius Queiroz | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 3 | 1:43 | |
Lightweight | Paul Sass | def. | Mark Holst | Submission (triangle choke) | 1 | 4:45 | |
Lightweight | Spencer Fisher | def. | Curt Warburton | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
Light Heavyweight | Fabio Maldonado
|
def. | James McSweeney | TKO (punches) | 3 | 0:48 |
- ^ Kongo had 1 point deducted in round 3 for repeatedly grabbing Browne's shorts.
Bonus awards
Fighters were awarded $60,000 bonuses.[54]
- Fight of the Night: Michael Bisping vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
- Knockout of the Night: Carlos Condit
- Submission of the Night: Paul Sass
See also
References
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- ^ Staff (19 October 2010). "UFC 120 ratings: Spike TV broadcast averages 1.9 million viewers (Updated)". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
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