UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch

UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch (also known as UFC Fight Night 116) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on September 16, 2017 at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.^[2][3]

UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch
The poster for UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	September 16, 2017 (2017-09-16)
Venue	PPG Paints Arena
City	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Attendance	7,005[1]
Total gate	$396,190.75[1]
Event chronology
UFC 215: Nunes vs. Shevchenko 2 UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch UFC Fight Night: Saint Preux vs. Okami

Background

This event was the third that the UFC has hosted in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.^[3]

A middleweight bout between former Strikeforce and UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold and former WSOF Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Champion David Branch headlined this event.^[4]

A heavyweight bout between Justin Ledet and Dmitriy Sosnovskiy was expected to take place at UFC Fight Night: Bermudez vs. The Korean Zombie. However, Ledet pulled out of the fight on January 26 alleging an undisclosed injury, and promotion officials elected to remove Sosnovskiy from the card.^[5][6] In turn, the UFC confirmed that Ledet was suspended for four months after testing positive for a banned substance.^[7] The fight was expected to take place at this event.^[8] Subsequently, Sosnovskiy was removed from the card on September 10 and was replaced by promotional newcomer Zu Anyanwu.^[9]

An August 19 event (originally expected to be UFC 215) had two announced bouts, including a welterweight bout between Mike Perry and former UFC Welterweight Championship challenger Thiago Alves, as well as a middleweight bout between former Bellator Middleweight Champion Héctor Lombard and Anthony Smith.^[10][11] After the event was canceled, both fights took place at this event.^[12][13] In turn, Alves pulled out of the fight on September 13.^[14] He was replaced by promotional newcomer Alex Reyes.^[15]

A middleweight bout between Krzysztof Jotko and Uriah Hall was expected to take place at UFC Fight Night: Jędrzejczyk vs. Penne in June 2015. However, Hall was removed due to visa issues, and promotion officials elected to remove Jotko from the card as well.^[16] The fight took place at this event.^[17]

A bantamweight bout between Felipe Arantes and Luke Sanders was pulled from the card after Arantes fell sick on September 14 from an undisclosed illness.^[18]

Results

Main Card (Fox Sports 1)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Middleweight	Luke Rockhold	def.	David Branch	TKO (submission to punches)	2	4:05
Welterweight	Mike Perry	def.	Alex Reyes	KO (knee)	1	1:19
Middleweight	Anthony Smith	def.	Héctor Lombard	TKO (punches)	3	2:33
Lightweight	Gregor Gillespie	def.	Jason Gonzalez	Submission (arm-triangle choke)	2	2:11
Welterweight	Kamaru Usman	def.	Sérgio Moraes	KO (punch)	1	2:48
Heavyweight	Justin Ledet	def.	Zu Anyanwu	Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)
Lightweight	Olivier Aubin-Mercier	def.	Anthony Rocco Martin	Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Heavyweight	Daniel Spitz	def.	Anthony Hamilton	TKO (punches)	1	0:24
Middleweight	Uriah Hall	def.	Krzysztof Jotko	KO (punches)	2	2:25
Lightweight	Gilbert Burns	def.	Jason Saggo	KO (punch)	2	4:55

^[19]

Bonus awards

The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses:^[1]

• Fight of the Night: Gregor Gillespie vs Jason Gonzalez
• Performance of the Night: Mike Perry and Uriah Hall

See also

• List of UFC events
• 2017 in UFC