''UFC 226: Miocic vs. Cormier'' 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 ...
event produced 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 ...
held on July 7, 2018, at the
T-Mobile Arena
T-Mobile Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Paradise, Nevada. Opened on April 6, 2016, it is the home arena of the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). A joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Anschutz En ...
in
Paradise, Nevada
Paradise is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the 2020 census, making it the fif ...
, part of the
Las Vegas Metropolitan Area
The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area is ...
.
Background
The event took place during the UFC's annual International Fight Week.
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 classe ...
bout between current champion
Stipe Miocic
Stipe Miocic (born August 19, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion. Miocic i ...
and current
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
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 ...
Daniel Cormier
Daniel Ryan Cormier (; born March 20, 1979) is an American former professional mixed martial artist, amateur wrestler, and current commentator for the UFC. He is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Ch ...
headlined the event. They also served as the head coaches of
The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated.
If successful, Cormier would become only the second fighter to be champion in two divisions simultaneously (after
Conor McGregor
Conor Anthony McGregor ( ga, Conchúr Antóin Mac Gréagóir; born 14 July 1988) is an Irish professional mixed martial artist. He is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight and lightweight double-champion. He is the first ...
who won the
UFC Lightweight 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 ...
at
UFC 205
''UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor'' was a mixed martial arts event promoted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on November 12, 2016, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
In what was described by UFC president Dana White as ...
when he was the reigning
UFC Featherweight Champion
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 ...
) as well as the fifth overall to win a title in different divisions.
This was the third time in UFC history that champions in different divisions fought for the same title, following
UFC 94
''UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2'' was a mixed martial arts (MMA) pay-per-view event promoted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on January 31, 2009. The card featured five televised MMA bouts, as well as five un-aired preliminary bouts. I ...
and
UFC 205
''UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor'' was a mixed martial arts event promoted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on November 12, 2016, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
In what was described by UFC president Dana White as ...
.
A
UFC Featherweight 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 ...
bout between current champion
Max Holloway
Jerome Max Keli'i Holloway (born December 4, 1991) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2010, Holloway became the ...
and
Brian Ortega
Brian Ortega (born February 21, 1991) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2010, Ortega has also competed in the R ...
was expected to take place at the event. However, on July 4, Holloway was pulled from the fight due to "concussion like symptoms". As a result, Ortega was removed from the card as well.
Gökhan Saki
Gökhan Saki (born 18 October 1983[Khalil Rountree Jr.
Khalil Ibn Rountree Jr. (born February 26, 1990) is an American mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Light heavyweight (MMA), light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Background
Rountree was born in ...](_blank)
at
UFC 219. However, Saki pulled out of the fight citing a leg injury. The pairing eventually took place at this event.
Paulo Costa
Paulo Henrique Costa (born 21 April 1991) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of August 1, 2022, he is #6 in the UFC middleweight ...
was scheduled to face
Uriah Hall at
UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Lee. However, Costa pulled out of the fight in mid-March with an arm injury. In turn, promotion officials elected to pull Hall from that event entirely and rescheduled the pairing for this event.
The Ultimate Fighter: Live lightweight winner
Michael Chiesa
Michael Keith Chiesa (; born December 7, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist, and sports analyst who currently competes in the welterweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional MMA competitor sin ...
was expected to face former
WEC and
UFC Lightweight Champion
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 ...
Anthony Pettis
Anthony Paul Pettis (born January 27, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to the Professional Fighters League. Pettis formerly fought in the Welterweight, Lightweight, and Featherweight divisions of the ...
at
UFC 223
''UFC 223: Khabib vs. Iaquinta '' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on April 7, 2018, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Background
A UFC Lightweight Championship bout between i ...
, but was pulled from the bout due to multiple cuts from a broken window as a result of the
Team SBG bus melee. The bout eventually took place at this event.
Yancy Medeiros
Yancy Medeiros Jr. (born September 7, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division of Bellator MMA. A professional competitor since 2007, he has competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Strikeforc ...
was expected to face
Mike Perry at the event. However, he pulled out of the fight in late-June citing a rib injury and was replaced by
Paul Felder
Paul Felder (born April 25, 1984) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist and color commentator for UFC. He competed in the Lightweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2011, Felder also ...
.
At the weigh-ins, Chiesa weighed in at 157.5 pounds, 1.5 pounds over the lightweight non-title fight limit of 156 pounds. His bout against Pettis was contested at catchweight and he forfeited 30 percent of his purse.
Results
Bonus awards
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses:
*Fight of the Night: None awarded
*Performance of the Night: Daniel Cormier, Anthony Pettis, Khalil Rountree Jr. and Paulo Costa
Reported payout
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the
Nevada State Athletic Commission
The Nevada State Athletic Commission (also known as the Nevada Athletic Commission or NSAC) regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of Nevada, including licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers, kickboxers, ...
. It does not include sponsor money and also does not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses. The total disclosed payout for the event was $2,737,000.
* Daniel Cormier: $500,000 def. Stipe Miocic: $750,000
* Derrick Lewis: $260,000 (includes $130,000 win bonus) def. Francis Ngannou: $100,000
* Mike Perry: $80,000 ($40,000 win bonus) def. Paul Felder: $46,000
* Anthony Pettis: $289,400 ($135,000 win bonus) def. Michael Chiesa: $25,600*
* Khalil Rountree Jr.: $38,000 ($19,000 win bonus) def. Gokhan Saki: $85,000
* Paulo Costa: $110,000 ($55,000 win bonus) def. Uriah Hall: $48,000
* Raphael Assunção: $130,000 ($60,000 win bonus) def. Rob Font: $33,000
* Drakkar Klose: $44,000 ($22,000 win bonus) def. Lando Vannata: $25,000
* Curtis Millender: $30,000 ($15,000 win bonus) def. Max Griffin: $20,000
* Daniel Hooker: $60,000 ($30,000 win bonus) def. Gilbert Burns: $31,000
* Emily Whitmire: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus) def. Jamie Moyle: $12,000
^ ''Chiesa was fined $11,400, 30 percent of his purse for failing to make the required weight for his fight with Anthony Pettis. That money was issued to Pettis, an NSAC official confirmed''.
See also
*
List of UFC events
This is a list of events held and scheduled by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. UFC's first event, UFC 1, took place on November 12, 1993. Each UFC event contains several fight ...
*
2018 in UFC
The year 2018 is the 26th year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States and founded in November 1993. This year, the UFC celebrated its 25th anniversary, and an annivers ...
*
List of current UFC fighters
This list of current UFC fighters records current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters' information, country origins, recent fighter signings and departures, fight schedules and results and the champion of each division. , the UFC roster ...
References
{{2018 in mixed martial arts
Ultimate Fighting Championship events
2018 in mixed martial arts
T-Mobile Arena
Mixed martial arts in Las Vegas
2018 in sports in Nevada
July 2018 sports events in the United States
Events in Paradise, Nevada