UFC 138

UFC 138: Leben vs. Muñoz was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 5, 2011 at LG Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom.^[2] The event aired on the same day, via tape delay, on Spike TV in the United States and live on Sportsnet in Canada.^[3] The event was the second that the UFC has hosted in Birmingham, the first was UFC 89 back in 2008 also featuring Chris Leben in the main event.

UFC 138: Leben vs. Muñoz
The poster for UFC 138: Leben vs. Muñoz
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	November 5, 2011
Venue	LG Arena
City	Birmingham, United Kingdom
Attendance	10,823[1]
Total gate	$1,500,000[1]
Event chronology
UFC 137: Penn vs. Diaz UFC 138: Leben vs. Muñoz UFC on Fox: Velasquez vs. dos Santos

Background

After several tentatively scheduled 2011 events ^[4] at various locations around the United Kingdom did not materialize, including Glasgow, Liverpool, London as well as a planned return to Ireland, it was expected that the organization would not hold an event in the area during 2011.^[5]

The main event was the first non-title five round fight in the history of the UFC.^[6]

Mark Scanlon was expected to face James Head at this event.^[7] However, Scanlon was pulled from the bout and replaced by promotional newcomer John Maguire^[8] Then, on September 28, Head himself pulled out of the fight due to an undisclosed injury and was replaced by Justin Edwards.^[9]

Pascal Krauss was expected to face John Hathaway at this event.^[10] However, on August 30 Krauss pulled out of the bout citing a shoulder injury, and was replaced by Matt Brown.^[11] Then on October 17 it was announced that Hathaway was forced to withdraw from the bout due to injury as well. As a result, Brown was pulled from the event and will face Seth Baczynski at UFC 139.^[12][13]

Phil De Fries was expected to face Oli Thompson at this event. However, on October 17 it was announced that Thompson was forced to withdraw from the bout due to injury. De Fries fought Rob Broughton at this event instead.^[12]

Anthony Njokuani was scheduled to fight Paul Taylor on the main card. However, Taylor sustained a whiplash injury during a minor traffic collision on November 1 forcing him from the bout. Due to insufficient time to find a replacement, Njokuani was moved to a future card, while a prelim fight between Cyrille Diabate and Anthony Perosh was promoted to the main card.^[14]

This event averaged 1.8 million viewers on Spike TV.^[15]

After the event Chris Leben tested positive for illegal substances and was subsequently suspended for a year.^[16]

Results

Main card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Middleweight	Mark Muñoz	def.	Chris Leben	TKO (corner stoppage)	2	5:00	[a]
Bantamweight	Renan Barão	def.	Brad Pickett	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	4:09
Welterweight	Thiago Alves	def.	Papy Abedi	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	3:32
Light Heavyweight	Anthony Perosh	def.	Cyrille Diabaté	Submission (rear-naked choke)	2	3:09
Lightweight	Terry Etim	def.	Edward Faaloloto	Submission (guillotine choke)	1	0:17
Preliminary card (Facebook)
Welterweight	John Maguire	def.	Justin Edwards	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00	[b]
Heavyweight	Phil De Fries	def.	Rob Broughton	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Michihiro Omigawa	def.	Jason Young	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Welterweight	Che Mills	def.	Chris Cope	TKO (knees and punches)	1	0:40	[c]
Bantamweight	Chris Cariaso	def.	Vaughan Lee	Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00

1. First non-title bout scheduled for 5 rounds in UFC history. Leben tested positive for oxycodone and oxymorphone.
2. This bout aired on the broadcast following the Muñoz vs Leben bout.
3. This bout aired on the broadcast following the Perosh vs Diabaté bout.

Bonus awards

Fighters were awarded $70,000 bonuses.^[17]

• Fight of the Night: Brad Pickett vs. Renan Barão
• Knockout of the Night: Che Mills
• Submission of the Night: Terry Etim

References

1. "UFC 138 draws a reported 10,823 attendees for record-setting $1.5 million live gate". MMAjunkie.com. 5 November 2011. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012.
2. "UFC 138: Leben vs. Muñoz". ufc.com. 6 September 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
3. "UFC 138 Fight Card Updates". ufc.com. 19 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
4. Samuels, Albert (13 August 2011). "UFC 138: Fight Card Lineup". MMAentry.com. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
5. Holland, Jesse (8 June 2011). "Marshall Zelaznik: UFC has a 'less than 20-percent chance' of bringing an event to the UK in 2011". mmamania.com. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
6. Helwani, Ariel (19 July 2011). "Leben vs. Muñoz Will Be Five-Round Fight". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
7. "Scanlon vs. Head To Feature At UFC 138". YourMMA.tv. 21 July 2011. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
8. "Mark Scanlon out of UFC 138, John Maguire debuts against James Head". mmajunkie.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
9. "James Head out, Justin Edwards in". The Fight Lounge. 28 September 2011. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011.
10. "John Hathaway vs. Pascal Krauss set for UFC 138 in England". MMAJunkie.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
11. "Matt Brown replaces Pascal Krauss, meets John Hathaway at UFC 138". mmajunkie.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
12. "Hathaway, Thompson out of UFC 138". UFC.com. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
13. "After injuries, Brown-Baczynski at UFC 139". mmajunkie.com. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
14. "UFC 138 loses Taylor-Njokuani, Diabate-Perosh promoted to main card". MMA Junkie. 1 November 2011. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012.
15. "Welcome to nginx". Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
16. "Leben Suspended After UFC 138". ufc.com. 28 November 2011.
17. "UFC 138 bonuses: Mills, Etim, Barao and Pickett net $70,000 awards". MMAjunkie.com. 5 November 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2011.