| UFC on Fox: Lawler vs. dos Anjos | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC on Fox: Lawler vs. dos Anjos | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | December 16, 2017 (2017-12-16) | |||
| Venue | Bell MTS Place | |||
| City | Winnipeg,Manitoba,Canada | |||
| Attendance | 8,862[1] | |||
| Total gate | $781,359[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC on Fox: Lawler vs. dos Anjos (also known asUFC on Fox 26) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship held on December 16, 2017, at theBell MTS Place inWinnipeg,Manitoba,Canada.[2]
The event was the second that the promotion has hosted in Winnipeg, followingUFC 161 in June 2013.[2]
The event was headlined by a welterweight bout between formerUFC Welterweight ChampionRobbie Lawler and formerUFC Lightweight ChampionRafael dos Anjos.[3] On October 13, UFC PresidentDana White announced that the winner of the main event would receive a title shot against current championTyron Woodley, who won the belt by defeating Lawler by first-round knockout atUFC 201.[4]
A light heavyweight bout betweenAntônio Rogério Nogueira andJared Cannonier, briefly linked toUFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Pettis, was instead scheduled for this event.[5][6] However, on October 19, it was announced that Nogueira was pulled from the card after being notified byUSADA of a potential doping violation, which resulted from an out-of-competition sample collected on September 27. The violation was due to a positive test forhydrochlorothiazide.[7] He was replaced byJan Błachowicz.[8]
A light heavyweight bout between formerUFC Light Heavyweight Championship challengerGlover Teixeira andMisha Cirkunov was expected to take place atUFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Machida, but was moved to this event after a recent hand injury for Teixeira was slow to heal and required surgery.[9]
FormerWEC Featherweight Champion and two-timeUFC Featherweight ChampionJosé Aldo was scheduled to face former title challengerRicardo Lamas in a rematch in the co-headliner.[10] The pairing met previously atUFC 169 in February 2014, with Aldo defending his title via unanimous decision.[11] However, Aldo was removed from the bout on November 10 in favor of a rematch against the current championMax Holloway two weeks earlier atUFC 218 after Holloway's scheduled opponent, formerUFC Lightweight ChampionFrankie Edgar pulled out of that fight.[12] He was replaced byJosh Emmett.[13]
A middleweight bout betweenVitor Miranda and promotional newcomerJulian Marquez was expected to take place at this event. However, on December 4, it was announced that Miranda was pulled from the fight, citing injury and was replaced byDarren Stewart.[14]
Sultan Aliev andSheldon Westcott were removed out of their respective fights againstNordine Taleb andDanny Roberts for undisclosed reasons. Taleb and Roberts were then scheduled to face each other.[14]
A flyweight bout between former title challenger andThe Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions flyweight winnerTim Elliott andJustin Scoggins was expected to take place at this event. However, on December 3, it was announced that Scoggins was pulled from the fight due to a spinal fracture injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Pietro Menga.[15] In turn, Menga also withdrew from the bout during fight week following weight-cutting complications and the bout was scrapped entirely.[16]
At the weigh ins, Emmett weighed in at 148.5 pounds, 2.5 pounds over the featherweight non-title fight upper limit of 146 pounds. As such, the bout proceeded at a catchweight and Emmett is expected to forfeit part of his purse to his opponent Lamas. Meanwhile, Menga did not weigh in and his fight against Elliott was canceled.[17]
| Main Card (Fox) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Welterweight | Rafael dos Anjos | def. | Robbie Lawler | Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 50–45, 50–45) | 5 | 5:00 | [a] |
| Catchweight (148.5 lb) | Josh Emmett | def. | Ricardo Lamas | KO (punch) | 1 | 4:33 | |
| Welterweight | Santiago Ponzinibbio | def. | Mike Perry | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Glover Teixeira | def. | Misha Cirkunov | TKO (punches) | 1 | 2:45 | |
| Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
| Light Heavyweight | Jan Błachowicz | def. | Jared Cannonier | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Julian Marquez | def. | Darren Stewart | Submission (guillotine choke) | 2 | 2:42 | |
| Welterweight | Chad Laprise | def. | Galore Bofando | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:10 | |
| Welterweight | Nordine Taleb | def. | Danny Roberts | KO (head kick, elbow and punch) | 1 | 0:59 | |
| Lightweight | John Makdessi | def. | Abel Trujillo | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Alessio Di Chirico | def. | Oluwale Bamgbose | KO (knee) | 2 | 2:14 | |
| Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Welterweight | Jordan Mein | def. | Erick Silva | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses:[19]
