| UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Brunson | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Brunson | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | November 27, 2016 (2016-11-27) | |||
| Venue | Rod Laver Arena | |||
| City | Melbourne, Australia | |||
| Attendance | 13,721[1] | |||
| Total gate | 2,200,000AUD[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Brunson (also known asUFC Fight Night 101) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship held on November 27, 2016, atRod Laver Arena inMelbourne, Australia.[2][3]
This event was the second that the organization hosted inMelbourne, with the first beingUFC 193 in November 2015.[2]
The event was expected to be headlined by a middleweight rematch between formerStrikeforce andUFC Middleweight ChampionLuke Rockhold and formerStrikeforce Middleweight ChampionRonaldo Souza.[2][3] The duo first met in September 2011 atStrikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov, in which Rockhold won a unanimous decision to capture Souza's title.[4] However, on November 1, Rockhold was ruled out of the contest due to a sprainedACL. Subsequently, Souza was removed from the card entirely and is expected to be rescheduled for another event.[5] In turn, a middleweight bout betweenThe Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight winnerRobert Whittaker andDerek Brunson was elevated to serve as the event headliner.[6]
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As a result of the cancellation ofUFC Fight Night: Lamas vs. Penn, bouts betweenYao Zhikui vs.Jenel Lausa andSeo Hee Ham vs.Danielle Taylor were rescheduled for this event.[7][8]
On October 21, it was announced thatDominique Steele pulled out of his scheduled bout againstKyle Noke due to an undisclosed injury and was replaced byOmari Akhmedov.[9]
The Ultimate Fighter: China featherweight winnerNing Guangyou was expected to faceMarlon Vera atUFC 202. However, due to an out-of-competition failed test and following investigation concluding Ning ingested the substance without fault or negligence, the bout was moved toUFC on Fox: Maia vs. Condit.[10] In turn, the bout was postponed again due to allegedvisa issues for Ning, which restricted the timing of his travel.[11] The fight was later rescheduled for this event.[12]
| Main Card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Middleweight | Robert Whittaker | def. | Derek Brunson | TKO (head kick and punches) | 1 | 4:07 | |
| Lightweight | Andrew Holbrook | def. | Jake Matthews | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Omari Akhmedov | def. | Kyle Noke | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Alexander Volkanovski | def | Yusuke Kasuya | TKO (punches) | 2 | 2:06 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Tyson Pedro | def. | Khalil Rountree Jr. | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 4:07 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Danielle Taylor | def. | Seo Hee Ham | Decision (split) (28–29, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
| Middleweight | Dan Kelly | def. | Chris Camozzi | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Damien Brown | def. | Jon Tuck | Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Jonathan Meunier | def. | Richard Walsh | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Flyweight | Ben Nguyen | def. | Geane Herrera | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–26, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Featherweight | Jason Knight | def. | Dan Hooker | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–26) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Marlon Vera | def. | Ning Guangyou | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Flyweight | Jenel Lausa | def. | Yao Zhikui | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters were awarded $60,000 bonuses:[14]
