''UFC 180: Werdum vs. Hunt'' was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

event held on November 15, 2014, at Arena Ciudad de México in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Background

The event was the first the organization hosted in

and was so popular that all 21,000 tickets were sold out in 8 hours. The event was expected to be headlined by a

UFC Heavyweight Championship Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight clas ...

bout between the current champion

Cain Velasquez Cain Ramírez Velásquez (born July 28, 1982) is an American former professional wrestler and mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. He is widely known for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he competed in the Heavyweight ( ...

and top contender

Fabrício Werdum Fabrício Werdum (; born 30 July 1977) is a Spanish-Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC Heavyweight Champion who competes in the Heavyweight division. He is also a 4-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, a two-time Abu Dhabi Comba ...

. However, on October 21, it was announced that Velasquez was forced to pull out of the bout due to an injured knee and was replaced by

Mark Hunt Mark Hunt (born 23 March 1974) is a New Zealand former professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. As a mixed martial artist, Hunt competed in Pride Fighting Championships (Pride FC) from 2004 until 2006, and the Ultimate Fighting Champi ...

. That also changed the originally planned title fight into an interim title bout. Also featured on the card were the featherweight and bantamweight finals of the inaugural installment of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America.

Norman Parke Norman Parke (born 22 December 1986) is a mixed martial artist from Northern Ireland. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Parke has fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, Absolute Championship Berkut, Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki ...

was expected to face

Diego Sanchez Diego Sanchez (born December 31, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently competes on the Super Lightweight division of Eagle Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2002, Sanchez is most known for his ...

at the event. However, Parke pulled out of the bout in early October citing a knee injury and was briefly replaced by

Joe Lauzon Joe Lauzon (born May 22, 1984) is a semi-retired American professional mixed martial artist who competed in the UFC's Lightweight division. Described as a well-rounded fighter, he has the most post-fight bonus awards in UFC Lightweight history ...

. In turn, injuries to both Sanchez and Lauzon led to the pairing being scrapped altogether. Érik Pérez was expected to face

Marcus Brimage Marcus Clyde Brimage (born April 6, 1985) is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed in the Featherweight division. A professional competitor since 2007, he has formerly competed for the UFC and was a competitor on The Ultimate Figh ...

at the event. However, Pérez pulled out of the bout due to a shoulder injury. In turn, Brimage was then pulled from the card as well and was matched up with Jumabieke Tuerxun for an earlier bout at UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Bisping. Two announced bouts between ''The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America'' contestants Masio Fullen vs. Alexander Torres and Fredy Serrano vs. Bentley Syler, previously linked to this event were postponed and will be rescheduled at future events.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses: *Fight of the Night: Henry Briones vs. Guido Cannetti *Performance of the Night: Fabrício Werdum and Kelvin Gastelum

References

{{UFC Events Ultimate Fighting Championship flagship events Sports competitions in Mexico City Mixed martial arts in Mexico 2014 in mixed martial arts

Background

Results

Bonus awards

See also

References