UFC 129

UFC 129 was a upcoming mixed martial arts event held on the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday, April 30, 2011 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario.

Background

The event was the sixth that the UFC has hosted in Canada and the first in Ontario since mixed martial arts was legalized in the province in August 2010. The Toronto event was originally titled UFC 131 by the promotion, but later changed to UFC 129 as its early 2011 schedule started to fall more firmly into place.

It was the largest UFC event in North American history and coincided with a two-day UFC Fan Expo at the Direct Energy Centre. UFC officials had originally planned for the Rogers Centre to be configured to hold 42,000 fans for UFC 129. The UFC put those tickets on sale to UFC Fight Club members in a special pre-sale on February 10, 2011, selling nearly all of them. They released and sold more tickets the following day to UFC newsletter subscribers in a second special pre-sale. UFC 129 then sold out when tickets went on sale to the general public on February 12, with officials scrambling to up the number of seats to 55,000.[8] Selling out all 55,000 tickets for gate revenues exceeding $11 million, the event shatters both MMA attendance and gate records in North America.

John Makdessi was rumored to face Jonathan Brookins at the event; however, Makdessi instead fought Kyle Watson.

In a conference call for UFC: Fight For The Troops 2 in January 2011, Dana White confirmed that UFC Featherweight Champion Jos Aldo would defend his title against Mark Hominick on this card, provided that Hominick defeated George Roop.[11] White also stated that, regardless of the outcome of the Hominick/Roop fight, Aldo would still defend his Featherweight Championship at this event. Hominick defeated Roop, via first round TKO, to confirm his place as no. 1 contender, and solidify the bout with Aldo.

Rory MacDonald was expected to face James Wilks at this event, but Wilks was forced from the card, and replaced by Nate Diaz.

On February 11, it was announced that Matt Hamill will no longer fight Phil Davis at this event and will instead fight Quinton Jackson at UFC 130. In a Twitter post, Davis said he was "sorry the fight had been removed from the website, and would be fighting in Toronto regardless." Davis was expected to face Jason Brilz[16] until Tito Ortiz had to pull out of his UFC Fight Night: Seattle fight with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Davis headlined that event against Nogueira, while Brilz is now expected to fight Vladimir Matyushenko at this event.

Brian Foster was expected to face Sean Pierson at this event, but Foster was forced out of the bout after a pre-fight MRI scan showed that Foster had a brain hemorrhage, and was replaced by Jake Ellenberger.

On February 27, 2011, it was revealed that two of the preliminary bouts would air on a Spike TV card.[21] These bouts aired at a new time of 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT, as the UFC announced on March 5, 2011, that UFC 129 would be the first PPV to air live at 9 pm ET / 6 pm PT.

UFC Primetime returned to promote the St-Pierre/Shields title fight.

On April 19, 2011, it was revealed that two of the preliminary bouts would air on a Facebook card.[24] However on April 21, the UFC instead announced that all of the prelims (except the two fights airing on Spike) would be on the Facebook stream.

 

 

  1. Georges St-Pierre vs Jake Shields
    Georges St-Pierre
    22-2-0 Record 26-5-1
    5' 11" Height 6' 0"
    170lbs (77kg) Weight 170lbs (77kg)
    Reach
    Jake Shields
    • Welterweight Championship bout: St-Pierre defeated Shields via unanimous decision (50-45, 48-47, 48-47) to retain the UFC Welterweight Championship
  2. Jose Aldo vs Mark Hominick
    Jose Aldo
    19-1-0 Record 20-9-0
    5' 7" Height 5' 8"
    145lbs (65kg) Weight 145lbs (65kg)
    Reach
    Mark Hominick
    • Featherweight Championship bout: Aldo defeated Hominick via unanimous decision (48-45, 48-46, 49-46) to retain the UFC Featherweight Championship.
  3. Vladimir Matyushenko vs Jason Brilz
    Vladimir Matyushenko
    26-5-0 Record 18-4-1
    6' 0" Height 5' 11"
    205lbs (93kg) Weight 205lbs (93kg)
    Reach 71
    Jason Brilz
    • Light Heavyweight bout: Matyushenko defeated Brilz via KO (punches) at 0:20 of round 1.
  4. Randy Couture vs Lyoto Machida
    Randy Couture
    19-11-0 Record 17-2-0
    6' 2" Height 6' 1"
    205lbs (93kg) Weight 205lbs (93kg)
    75 Reach
    Lyoto Machida
    • Light Heavyweight bout: Machida defeated Couture via KO (flying front crane kick) at 1:05 of round 2.
  5. Mark Bocek vs Ben Henderson
    Mark Bocek
    9-4-0 Record 13-2-0
    5' 8" Height 5' 9"
    155lbs (70kg) Weight 155lbs (70kg)
    75 Reach
    Ben Henderson
    • Lightweight bout: Henderson defeated Bocek via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

  6. Preliminary Card (Spike TV)

  7. Nate Diaz vs Rory MacDonald
    Nate Diaz
    13-7-0 Record 11-1-0
    6' 0" Height 6' 0"
    170lbs (77kg) Weight 170lbs (77kg)
    76 Reach
    Rory MacDonald
    • Welterweight bout: MacDonald defeated Diaz via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-26)
  8. Sean Pierson vs Jake Ellenberger
    Sean Pierson
    11-5-0 Record 25-5-0
    6' 0" Height 6' 0"
    170lbs (77kg) Weight 170lbs (77kg)
    Reach 73
    Jake Ellenberger
    • Welterweight bout: Ellenberger defeated Pierson via KO (punch) at 2:42 of round 1

  9. Preliminary Card (Facebook)

  10. Claude Patrick vs Daniel Roberts
    Claude Patrick
    14-1-0 Record 12-2-0
    5' 11" Height 5' 10"
    170lbs (77kg) Weight 170lbs (77kg)
    Reach
    Daniel Roberts
      • Welterweight bout: Patrick defeated Roberts via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
  11. Ivan Menjivar vs Charlie Valencia
    Ivan Menjivar
    22-8-0 Record 12-7-0
    5' 6" Height 5' 3"
    135lbs (61kg) Weight 135lbs (61kg)
    Reach
    Charlie Valencia
    • Bantamweight bout: Menjivar defeated Valencia via TKO (elbow and punches) at 1:30 of round 1. This bout aired on the Spike broadcast following the Ellenberger vs. Pierson fight and on the PPV broadcast following the Couture vs. Machida fight.
  12. Jason MacDonald vs Ryan Jensen
    Jason MacDonald
    26-14-0 Record 16-7-0
    6' 3" Height 6' 1"
    185lbs (84kg) Weight 185lbs (84kg)
    Reach
    Ryan Jensen
    • Middleweight bout: MacDonald defeated Jensen via submission (triangle choke) at 1:37 of round 1. This bout aired on the Spike broadcast following the Diaz vs. MacDonald fight.
  13. John Makdessi vs Kyle Watson
    John Makdessi
    9-0-0 Record 16-8-1
    5' 8" Height 6' 0"
    155lbs (70kg) Weight 155lbs (70kg)
    Reach
    Kyle Watson
    • Lightweight bout: Makdessi defeated Watson via KO (spinning back fist) at 1:27 of round 3. This bout aired on the PPV broadcast following the St. Pierre vs. Shields fight.
  14. Yves Jabouin vs Pablo Garza
    Yves Jabouin
    14-7-0 Record 12-1-0
    5' 6" Height 6' 1"
    145lbs (65kg) Weight 145lbs (65kg)
    Reach
    Pablo Garza
    • Featherweight bout: Garza defeated Jabouin via submission (flying triangle choke) at 4:31 of round 1. This bout aired on the PPV broadcast following the Matyushenko vs. Brilz fight.
Fight of the Night: José Aldo vs. Mark Hominick
Knockout of the Night: Lyoto Machida
Submission of the Night: Pablo Garza

EVENTS