UFC 141

UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Friday December 30, 2011, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[4]

UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem
The poster for UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	December 30, 2011
Venue	MGM Grand Garden Arena
City	Las Vegas, Nevada
Attendance	13,793[1]
Total gate	$3,100,000[1]
Buyrate	750,000[2][3]
Event chronology
UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes

Background

The UFC returned to a 10 p.m. ET start with this event.^[5]

UFC 141 was the last event to feature preliminary fights live on Spike TV.^[6]

This event marked Brock Lesnar's return to MMA action after being out for over a year due to diverticulitis. The lead up to the fight was rife with controversy regarding his opponent, Alistair Overeem. In November 2011, both competitors were required by the NSAC to comply with out-of-competition drug testing. Lesnar delivered his sample screen on November 21, while Overeem delivered his on November 23. The screen, however, did not meet the standards of the commission. Overeem submitted a second test through his personal physician – which was also deemed unacceptable – before flying out of the country. Overeem was ultimately given a conditional license for the fight by the committee during a meeting held on December 12, 2011.^[7]

The winner of the main event was expected to face Junior dos Santos in a bout for the UFC Heavyweight Championship.^[8] After being defeated by Overeem, Lesnar announced his immediate retirement from the UFC.^[9][10]

T. J. Grant was originally scheduled to face Jacob Volkmann at this event but was forced to pull out due to an undisclosed injury, and was replaced by returning veteran Efrain Escudero.^[11]

Matthew Riddle was scheduled to face Luis Ramos, but the bout was cancelled only moments before the fight due to Riddle being ill.^[12]

Ramsey Nijem was scheduled to face Anthony Njokuani at the event but was forced to pull out due to an undisclosed injury, and replaced by Danny Castillo.^[13]

Results

Main card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Heavyweight	Alistair Overeem	def.	Brock Lesnar	TKO (body kick and punches)	1	2:26
Lightweight	Nate Diaz	def.	Donald Cerrone	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28)	3	5:00
Welterweight	Johny Hendricks	def.	Jon Fitch	KO (punch)	1	0:12
Light Heavyweight	Alexander Gustafsson	def.	Vladimir Matyushenko	TKO (punches)	1	2:13
Featherweight	Jimy Hettes	def.	Nam Phan	Decision (unanimous) (30-25, 30-25, 30-26)	3	5:00
Preliminary card (Spike TV)
Featherweight	Ross Pearson	def.	Junior Assunção	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27)	3	5:00
Lightweight	Danny Castillo	def.	Anthony Njokuani	Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28)	3	5:00
Preliminary card (Facebook)
Welterweight	Dong Hyun Kim	def.	Sean Pierson	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00	[a]
Lightweight	Jacob Volkmann	def.	Efrain Escudero	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Diego Nunes	def.	Manny Gamburyan	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00	[b]

1. This bout aired on the broadcast following the Hendricks vs Fitch bout.
2. This bout aired on the broadcast following the Overeem vs Lesnar bout.

Bonus awards

Fighters were awarded $75,000 bonuses.^[14]

• Fight of the Night: Nate Diaz vs. Donald Cerrone
• Knockout of the Night: Johny Hendricks
• Submission of the Night: Not awarded as no matches ended by submission.

Reported payout

The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. It does not include sponsor money and also does not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses.^[15]

• Alistair Overeem: $380,000 (includes $190,000 win bonus) def. Brock Lesnar: $400,000
• Nate Diaz: $74,000 (includes $37,000 win bonus) def. Donald Cerrone: $30,000
• Johny Hendricks: $52,000 (includes $26,000 win bonus) def. Jon Fitch: $60,000
• Alexander Gustafsson: $32,000 (includes $16,000 win bonus) def. Vladimir Matyushenko: $40,000
• Jim Hettes: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Nam Phan: $8,000
• Ross Pearson: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus) def. Junior Assuncao: $8,000
• Danny Castillo: $38,000 (includes $19,000 win bonus) def. Anthony Njokuani: $12,000
• Dong Hyun Kim: $82,000 (includes $41,000 win bonus) def. Sean Pierson: $8,000
• Jacob Volkmann: $32,000 (includes $16,000 win bonus) def. Efrain Escudero: $10,000
• Diego Nunes: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Manny Gamburyan: $18,000

References

1. Staff (January 11, 2012). "UFC 141 officially draws 13,793 attendance for $3.1 million live gate". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013.
2. Wilcox, Nate (3 October 2012). "Jones vs. Belfort does over 450K PPV buys". Bloody Elbow. SB Nation. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
3. "Pay Per View Buys". Tapology. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
4. "UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem". Ultimate Fighting Championship. November 7, 2011.
5. Staff (2011-10-12). "UFC returning to 10 p.m. ET pay-per-view slot with UFC 141". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2011-10-12.
6. Stupp, Dann (November 29, 2011). "UFC 141 'UFC Prelims' special gets Njokuani-Nijem, Assuncao-Pearson on Spike TV". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
7. Staff (2011-12-12). "Alistair Overeem granted conditional license for UFC 141, facing four drug tests". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
8. Okamoto, Brett (September 6, 2011). "Brock Lesnar-Alistair Overeem fight set". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
9. "Lesnar retires after first-round loss to Overeem". 31 December 2011.
10. "- YouTube". YouTube.
11. Stupp, Dann (December 6, 2011). "'TUF 8' champ Escudero returning to UFC, meets Volkmann at UFC 141". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2011. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
12. Staff (December 30, 2011). "Illness forces Matt Riddle out of UFC 141, Luis Ramos bout pulled from card". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
13. Staff (December 7, 2011). "Ramsey Nijem out, Danny Castillo in against Anthony Njoukani at UFC 141". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
14. Staff (2011-12-31). "UFC 141 bonuses: Hendricks, Diaz and Cerrone get $75,000 awards". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
15. Staff (December 31, 2011). "UFC 141 salaries: Overeem ($386K), Lesnar ($400K) lead $1.4 million payroll". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved December 31, 2011.