| UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs. Cruz | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs. Cruz | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | January 17, 2016 (2016-01-17) | |||
| Venue | TD Garden | |||
| City | Boston,Massachusetts | |||
| Attendance | 12,790[1] | |||
| Total gate | $1,300,000[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs. Cruz (also known asUFC Fight Night 81) was amixed martial arts event held on January 17, 2016, at theTD Garden inBoston, Massachusetts.[2]
AUFC Bantamweight Championship bout between defending championT.J. Dillashaw and formerWEC and UFC Bantamweight championDominick Cruz headlined this event.[2]
Beneil Dariush was expected to faceMairbek Taisumov at this event. However, on December 3, Dariush was forced to pull out of the bout due to injury. He was replaced byChris Wade.[3] In turn, Taisumov was pulled from the fight during the week leading to the event due to allegedvisa issues and was replaced by promotional newcomerMehdi Baghdad.[4]
Dennis Bermudez was expected to faceMaximo Blanco at this event. However, on December 5, Bermudez pulled out of the bout due to astaph infection in his shin.[5] On January 4, it was announced that he was replaced by promotional newcomerLuke Sanders.[6]
Patrick Williams was expected to faceRob Font at this event. However, Williams was forced to pull out due to injury in late December and was replaced by promotional newcomer Joey Gomez.[7]
Jimy Hettes was expected to faceCharles Rosa. However, on January 10, only 8 days before the event, Hettes pulled out due to injury.[8] He was very briefly replaced by promotional newcomerAugusto Mendes.[9] Just two days later, Mendes was removed from the fight and was replaced by fellow newcomerKyle Bochniak.[10]
Promotional newcomerAbdul-Kerim Edilov was expected to faceFrancimar Barroso at the event. However, Edilov pulled out of the fight in the days leading up to the event citing a knee injury and was replaced by fellow newcomerElvis Mutapčić.[11][9]
| Main Card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Bantamweight | Dominick Cruz | def. | T.J. Dillashaw (c) | Decision (split) (48–47, 46–49, 49–46) | 5 | 5:00 | [a] |
| Lightweight | Eddie Alvarez | def. | Anthony Pettis | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Travis Browne | def. | Matt Mitrione | TKO (punches) | 3 | 4:09 | |
| Lightweight | Francisco Trinaldo | def. | Ross Pearson | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
| Welterweight | Patrick Côté | def. | Ben Saunders | TKO (punches) | 2 | 1:14 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Ed Herman | def. | Tim Boetsch | TKO (knee and punches) | 2 | 1:39 | |
| Lightweight | Chris Wade | def. | Mehdi Baghdad | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 4:30 | |
| Featherweight | Luke Sanders | def. | Maximo Blanco | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 3:38 | |
| Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Lightweight | Paul Felder | def. | Daron Cruickshank | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 3 | 3:56 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Ilir Latifi | def. | Sean O'Connell | KO (punches) | 1 | 0:30 | |
| Featherweight | Charles Rosa | def. | Kyle Bochniak | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Rob Font | def. | Joey Gomez | TKO (punches) | 2 | 4:13 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Francimar Barroso | def. | Elvis Mutapčić | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses:[13]
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission. It does not include sponsor money or "locker room" bonuses often given by the UFC and also do not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses.[14]
