UFC 206

UFC 206: Holloway vs. Pettis

A poster or logo for UFC 206: Holloway vs. Pettis.
Information
Promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date December 10, 2016 (2016-12-10)
Venue Air Canada Centre
City Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Event chronology

UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Abdurakhimov UFC 206: Holloway vs. Pettis UFC on Fox: VanZant vs. Waterson

UFC 206: Holloway vs. Pettis is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) that will be held on December 10, 2016 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[1]

Background

A UFC Light Heavyweight Championship rematch between the current champion Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson was originally expected to headline the event.[2] The pairing met previously in May 2015 at UFC 187 with Cormier winning the fight (and the vacant title) via submission in the third round.[3] However on November 25, Cormier pulled out due to injury and the bout was scrapped.[4] Promotion officials reportedly tried to book Johnson against former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi, but the former opted to wait for Cormier to return. Therefore, a featherweight bout between Max Holloway and former UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis was shifted to the headlining spot. Another component was added to the fight, as it was promoted to an interim UFC Featherweight Championship status.[5] The current champion (as well as lightweight champion) Conor McGregor vacated his title and former champion/current interim titleholder José Aldo became the undisputed champion.[6][7]

Promotional newcomer Poliana Botelho was expected to face former UFC Women's Strawweight Championship challenger Valérie Létourneau at the event. However, Botelho was removed from the fight for undisclosed reasons on October 26 and was replaced by fellow newcomer Viviane Pereira.[8]

Former UFC Flyweight Championship challenger John Moraga was expected to face former Bellator Bantamweight Champion Zach Makovsky at the event. However, Moraga pulled out of the fight in early November citing injury and was replaced by Dustin Ortiz.[9]

A middleweight bout between Tim Kennedy and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and divisional newcomer Rashad Evans was originally booked for UFC 205. However, Evans was pulled from the fight days before the event after an undisclosed irregularity was found during his pre-fight medical exam. Subsequently, Kennedy was removed from the card as well.[10][11] The fight was later rescheduled for this event.[12] Subsequently, Evans once again was unable to obtain medical clearance to compete on the card and was pulled from the bout on November 21. An irregularity in his pre-fight MRI was responsible for both removals and he is expected to undergo an additional screening with an neurologist to prove he is healthy enough to fight, before possibly returning to the cage in January or February, according to his manager.[13] The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen middleweight winner Kelvin Gastelum was announced as his replacement on November 26, pending commission approval due to his suspension after UFC 205.[14] He was granted his liberation 4 days later.[15]

A welterweight bout between Chad Laprise and Li Jingliang was expected to take place at the event. However, Laprise pulled out of the fight on November 16 citing an undisclosed injury. As a result Li was pulled from the card entirely and will be rescheduled at a future event.[16]

Official fight card

Fight Card
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Featherweight Max Holloway vs. Anthony Pettis [lower-alpha 1]
Welterweight Donald Cerrone vs. Matt Brown
Featherweight Cub Swanson vs. Doo Ho Choi
Middleweight Tim Kennedy vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Welterweight Jordan Mein vs. Emil Weber Meek
Light Heavyweight Nikita Krylov vs. Misha Cirkunov
Lightweight Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Drew Dober
Women's Strawweight Valérie Létourneau vs. Viviane Pereira
Bantamweight Mitch Gagnon vs. Matthew Lopez
Lightweight John Makdessi vs. Lando Vannata
Lightweight Jason Saggo vs. Rustam Khabilov
Flyweight Zach Makovsky vs. Dustin Ortiz
  1. ↑ For the interim UFC Featherweight Championship.

[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Marc Raimondi (2016-08-19). "UFC releases schedule for rest of 2016 including UFC 206 in Toronto". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
  2. ↑ Dave Doyle (2016-10-05). "Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson rematch set for UFC 206". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  3. ↑ Steven Marrocco (2015-05-24). "UFC 187 results: Daniel Cormier wears down Anthony Johnson for third-round tap". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  4. ↑ Staff (2016-11-25). "Report: Daniel Cormier injured, forced out of UFC 206 headliner vs. Anthony Johnson". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2016-11-25.
  5. ↑ Ariel Helwani (2016-11-26). "Max Holloway vs. Anthony Pettis for interim title now slated for UFC 206 main event". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
  6. ↑ Staff (2016-11-26). "McGregor vacates featherweight title; Aldo new undisputed champion". ufc.com. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
  7. ↑ Ben Fowlkes (2016-11-27). "Stripping Conor McGregor of his UFC featherweight title makes sense – but not like this". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2016-11-27.
  8. ↑ Staff (2016-10-26). "Valérie Létourneau finally confronts Viviane Pereira at UFC 206". rds.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-26. (French)
  9. ↑ Staff (2016-11-07). "Ortiz replaces Moraga on UFC 206 card". tsn.ca. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  10. ↑ Jose Youngs (2016-11-08). "Rashad Evans pulled from UFC 205 fight against Tim Kennedy". fansided.com. Retrieved 2016-11-08.
  11. ↑ Ariel Helwani (2016-11-08). "Rashad Evans vs. Tim Kennedy fight scratched from UFC 205". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2016-11-08.
  12. ↑ Mike Bohn (2016-11-09). "Rashad Evans vs. Tim Kennedy rescheduled for UFC 206 in Toronto". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2016-11-09.
  13. ↑ Steven Marrocco (2016-11-21). "Manager: Rashad Evans not cleared to fight at UFC 206". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  14. ↑ Tristen Critchfield (2016-11-26). "Pending commission approval, Tim Kennedy vs. Kelvin Gastelum set for UFC 206". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
  15. ↑ Marc Raimondi (2016-11-29). "Kelvin Gastelum free of suspension, will face Tim Kennedy at UFC 206". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  16. ↑ Thomas Gerbasi (2016-11-16). "Laprised injured, Li bout off". ufc.ca.com. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  17. ↑ "UFC 206: Holloway vs. Pettis". Ultimate Fighting Championship. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
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