| UFC Fight Night: Bigfoot vs. Mir | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() The poster for UFC Fight Night: Bigfoot vs. Mir | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | February 22, 2015 (2015-02-22) | |||
| Venue | Ginásio Gigantinho | |||
| City | Porto Alegre, Brazil | |||
| Attendance | 5,080[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC Fight Night: Bigfoot vs. Mir (also known asUFC Fight Night 61) was amixed martial arts event held on February 22, 2015, at theGinásio Gigantinho inPorto Alegre, Brazil.[2][3]
The event was the first that the UFC has hosted in the state ofRio Grande do Sul.[2]
A light heavyweight bout betweenRashad Evans andGlover Teixeira was expected to serve as the event headliner.[4] However, on January 7, Teixeira was forced out of the bout as his knee, injured in his last fight, was slow to heal and he was unable to resume the proper training to prepare for the fight in that time frame. Evans is expected to be rebooked at a different event with possibly a new opponent.[5]
A heavyweight bout betweenAntônio Silva and formerUFC Heavyweight championFrank Mir, previously scheduled forUFC 184, a week later, headlined the event.[5]
A welterweight bout between Wendell Oliveira andTJ Waldburger, slated for the televised preliminary portion of the event, was cancelled on the day of the weigh-ins, after Waldburger passed out while cutting weight.[6] Both fighters were paid their show money.[7]
According toNielsen, the main card broadcast onFox Sports 1 drew an average 1.21 million US viewers, 35% higher than the network's average Fight Night. The prelims drew 831,000. Viewership peaked at 1.392 million during theSaenz vsAlcântara fight.[8]
The event saw a record 10 of 11underdogs win, following the first bout.[9] This cost online gambling site Bovada nearly $1 million, including a $48,291 payout on a $1parlay. Bovada sportsbook manager Kevin Bradley said this would make it hard to have a profitable 2015 in the combat sport market.[10]
| Main Card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Heavyweight | Frank Mir | def. | Antônio Silva | KO (punch and elbows) | 1 | 1:40 | |
| Lightweight | Michael Johnson | def. | Edson Barboza | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Sam Alvey | def. | Cezar Ferreira | KO (punches) | 1 | 3:34 | |
| Lightweight | Adriano Martins | def. | Rustam Khabilov | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Frankie Saenz | def. | Iuri Alcântara | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Santiago Ponzinibbio | def. | Sean Strickland | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
| Women's Bantamweight | Marion Reneau | def. | Jéssica Andrade | Submission (triangle choke) | 1 | 1:54 | |
| Welterweight | Matt Dwyer | def. | William Macário | KO (superman punch) | 1 | 3:14 | |
| Featherweight | Mike De La Torre | def. | Tiago Trator | TKO (punches) | 1 | 2:59 | |
| Bantamweight | Douglas Silva de Andrade | def. | Cody Gibson | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Lightweight | Ivan Jorge | def. | Josh Shockley | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses:[12]