''UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones'' was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

event held by the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

on March 19, 2011, at the

Prudential Center Prudential Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the men's basketball program of Seton Hal ...

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.

Background

This event was expected to take place in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

, the promotion's first return to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

since

UFC 112 ''UFC 112: Invincible'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 10, 2010, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Due to the time zone difference in Abu Dhabi, UFC 112 was shown live on pay-per-view in the U ...

. However, the organization scrapped the idea after a suitable location for the event could not be finalized in time, since the temporary venue that hosted

had been dismantled. A bout between

Tito Ortiz Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz (; born January 23, 1975) is an American mixed martial artist and politician. He is currently signed to the Combate Americas promotion. Ortiz is best known for his stints with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UF ...

and

Antônio Rogério Nogueira Antônio Rogério Nogueira (; born 2 June 1976), also known as Minotouro or Lil Nog, is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the UFC. He is the twin brother of Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, the "Minotauro" ...

, was linked to this event, but was moved to headline

UFC Fight Night 24 ''UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 24'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 26, 2011 at the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington. Background The event did not lea ...

. A bout between

Brendan Schaub Brendan Peter Schaub (born March 18, 1983) is an American podcast host, former professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, and stand-up comedian. He is the host of ''The Fighter and the Kid'' podcast, the ''Below the Belt with Brend ...

and

Frank Mir Francisco Santos Mir III (; born May 24, 1979), is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed for Bellator MMA in the Heavyweight division. He formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for sixteen years. A f ...

was expected for this event. However, Schaub ended up fighting

Mirko Cro Cop Mirko Filipović (; born 10 September 1974), better known by his ring name Mirko Cro Cop, is a retired Croatian professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer and amateur boxer. He is mostly known for his time in Pride Fighting Championships. Cro ...

. A bout between

Chael Sonnen Chael Patrick Sonnen (; born April 3, 1977) is an American submission grappling promoter, mixed martial arts (MMA) analyst, and retired mixed martial artist. Beginning his MMA career in 1997, Sonnen competed for the Ultimate Fighting Champion ...

and

Yoshihiro Akiyama , also known as and by his nickname Sexyama, is a Japanese mixed martial artist and judoka who won the gold medal at the 2001 Asian Championships for South Korea and for Japan at the 2002 Asian Games. A fourth-generation Japanese of ...

was briefly reported but Sonnen pleaded guilty to federal charges of money laundering and had his contract placed on hold by the UFC.

Nate Marquardt Nathan Joel Marquardt (born April 20, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the middleweight and welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 1999, he is a former Strikeforce W ...

was then signed to compete against Akiyama. However, on March 12, it was announced that Yoshihiro Akiyama had to pull out of his fight with Nate Marquardt due to the tragedy in Japan.

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who serves as president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at $500 milli ...

then announced via Twitter that Dan Miller would be stepping up from the preliminary fights to replace Akiyama on the main card. Miller's original opponent

Nick Catone Nicholas Catone (born September 1, 1981) is a retired American mixed martial artist. Catone competed most recently in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in their Middleweight division. Mixed martial arts career Wrestling Catone began wrestling ...

instead faced UFC newcomer

Costas Philippou Constantinos Philippou ( gr, Κωνσταντίνος Φιλίππου, born November 29, 1979) is a retired Greek-Cypriot mixed martial artist. He formerly fought for the UFC's Middleweight division. Early life Philippou was born in Limassol o ...

in a 195-pound catchweight bout. During

Jon Jones Jonathan Dwight Jones (born July 19, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in which he has competed in the light heavyweight division. He is a former two-time UFC L ...

' post-fight interview following his victory over

Ryan Bader Arizona State Sun Devils Ryan DuWayne Bader (born June 7, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist currently signed to Bellator MMA where he is the current Bellator Heavyweight Champion, the former Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion, a ...

UFC 126 ''UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 5, 2011 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background Former Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor B ...

Joe Rogan Joseph James Rogan (born August 11, 1967) is an American UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly ...

announced that

Rashad Evans Rashad Anton Evans (born September 25, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist. Evans started his professional career in 2003, he was the Heavyweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 2 and is also a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, and a 2 ...

had injured his knee during training. Jones was then informed that the UFC wanted him to replace Evans in a fight against

Maurício Rua Maurício Milani Rua (; born 25 November 1981), also known as Shogun, is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and former model. He competes in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a former ...

in the main event for the

UFC Light 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 classe ...

. Jones accepted, and the fight was set for this event.

Quinton Jackson Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (born June 20, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist, actor and former professional wrestler, who most recently fought in the Bellator MMA. He is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and unified the Pride Middlew ...

was originally offered the fight before Jon Jones. He declined the fight saying he would never take a fight with only a four-week notice. He also stated that he currently weighed 250 pounds and would have to lose 45 pounds in that four week time period and would not have time to actually train.

Karlos Vemola Karel "Karlos" Vémola (born July 1, 1985) is a Czech-British professional mixed martial artist, former bodybuilder, amateur wrestling, wrestler and member of Sokol. A professional competitor since 2008, he became historically the first Ultimate ...

was scheduled to face

Luiz Cane Luiz is a Portuguese given name that is an alternative form of Luís. It's archaic in Portugal, but common in Brazil. Notable people referred to by this name include the following: People *Luiz Bonfá (1922-2001), Brazilian guitarist and composer ...

on the card, but Vemola was forced out of the fight with an injury.

Eliot Marshall Eliot Andrew Marshall (born July 7, 1980) is a retired American mixed martial artist. He was a cast member on SpikeTV's The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir. Background Marshall grew up in the Franklinville section of Franklin To ...

stepped in and replaced Vemola.

Manvel Gamburyan Manvel Gamburyan ( hy, Մանվել Գամբուրյան; born May 8, 1981) is an Armenian mixed martial artist who has competed in the UFC's lightweight, featherweight, and bantamweight divisions. A professional competitor since 1999, he was a c ...

was scheduled to take on

Raphael Assunção Raphael Oliveira Assunção (born 19 July 1982) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Born in Recife in Northeast Brazil, Assunção moved to Unite ...

, but withdrew due to a back injury on February 25.

Erik Koch Erik Jon Koch (born October 4, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2007, he formerly competed for the WEC. Background Koch wa ...

stepped in and faced Assunção, as Koch's original opponent for the UFC on Versus 3 event two weeks prior to UFC 128,

Cub Swanson Kevin Luke "Cub" Swanson (born November 2, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2004, Swanson holds the most ...

, pulled out due to injury around the same time as Gamburyan. ''UFC 128'' featured two preliminary fights live on

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was o ...

, and on March 7, it was announced that the Almeida vs

Pyle Pyle ( cy, Y Pîl) is a village and Community (Wales), community (and electoral ward) in Bridgend (county borough), Bridgend county borough, Wales. This large village is served by the A48 road, and lies less than one mile from Junction 37 of ...

and Pellegrino vs

Tibau Tibau is the northernmost city in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte. It is also the last coastal city (going east-west) of that state before Ceará Ceará (, pronounced locally as or ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the ...

fights would stream live on the UFC's official

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

page.

Bruce Buffer Bruce Anthony Buffer (born May 21, 1957) is an American professional mixed martial arts ring announcer and the official octagon announcer for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events, introduced on broadcasts as the "Veteran Voice of the Octag ...

announced that Mike Pyle defeated Ricardo Almeida by scores of 29–28, 30–27 and 30–27. However, the official scorecards showed that Pyle actually won the fight with scores of 29–28 across the board. On March 17,

announced on an episode of

MMA Live ''MMA Live'' was a sports show about mixed martial arts. It was seen on ESPN2. The show featured analysts such as Franklin McNeil, Pat Miletich, and others. ''MMA Live'' was originally an Internet show, but made the move to television after posi ...

that Rashad Evans would be offered the next light heavyweight title shot against the winner of the main event. Instead, Jones made his first title defense against Quinton Jackson on September 24, 2011 at

UFC 135 ''UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 24, 2011 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. Background The Ultimate Fighting Championship had its first ever event in Den ...

Results

Bonus awards

Fighters were awarded $70,000 bonuses. *Fight of the Night: Edson Barboza vs. Anthony Njokuani *Knockout of the Night: Brendan Schaub and Erik Koch *Submission of the Night: Not awarded as no matches ended by submission.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ufc 128 Ultimate Fighting Championship events 2011 in mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts in New Jersey Sports competitions in Newark, New Jersey 2011 in New Jersey