''UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Abdurakhimov'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 102'') 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 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 December 9, 2016, at

Times Union Center The MVP Arena (originally Knickerbocker Arena, and then the Pepsi Arena and Times Union Center) is an indoor arena located in Albany, New York. It is configurable and can accommodate from 6,000 to 17,500 people, with a maximum seating capacity ...

in Albany,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Background

This event was the first that the organization hosted in Albany. A heavyweight bout between

Derrick Lewis Derrick James Lewis (born February 7, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he currently holds the record for most knockouts ...

and

Shamil Abdurakhimov Shamil Gentovich Abdurakhimov (born September 2, 1981) is a Russian mixed martial artist, who is currently fighting in the heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of December 13, 2022, he is #14 in the UFC heavywe ...

served as the event headliner. A middleweight bout between

Josh Samman Joshua Kaleb Samman (March 14, 1988 – October 5, 2016) was an American mixed martial artist who, at the time of his death, competed in the Middleweight (MMA), Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and also competed for Be ...

and

Oluwale Bamgbose Oluwale Bamgbose (born August 4, 1987) is a Nigerian-American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Education Oluwale was raised by traditional parents who were very s ...

was briefly linked to the event. However the pairing never materialized as Samman died on October 5, 2016. Joe Gigliotti was tabbed as his replacement. In turn, Bamgbose pulled out of the fight in mid-November citing an injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer

Gerald Meerschaert Gerald Edward Meerschaert III (born December 18, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2007, he formerly competed for the ...

. Promotional newcomer

Charlie Ward Charlie Ward Jr. (born October 12, 1970) is a former American professional basketball player. Ward was an exceptional football player as well, winning the Heisman Trophy, Davey O'Brien Award, and College Football National Championship while quart ...

was expected to face Randy Brown at the event. However, Ward was pulled from the event in early November due to alleged

visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

issues which restricted his travel and was replaced by fellow newcomer Brian Camozzi.

Zubaira Tukhugov Zubaira Alikhanovich Tukhugov (born January 15, 1991) is a Russian mixed martial artist who fights in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional MMA competitor since 2010, Tukhugov made a name for himsel ...

was scheduled to face

Tiago Trator Tiago dos Santos e Silva (born April 12, 1987) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competed in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Mixed martial arts career Early career Starting his career in 2009, Trator comp ...

at the event. However, on November 14, Tukhugov was pulled from the card after being notified by

USADA The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti- doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent d ...

of a potential anti-doping violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected earlier. On November 28, Tukhugov was replaced by promotional newcomer

Shane Burgos Shane may refer to: People * Shane (actress) (born 1969), American pornographic actress * Shane (New Zealand singer) (born 1946) * iamnotshane (born 1995), formerly known as Shane, American singer * Shane (name), a masculine given name and a sur ...

Aljamain Sterling Aljamain Antoine Sterlinghttp://boxing.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/boxingnvgov/content/results/2014_Results/02-22-14MMA.pdf (born July 31, 1989) is a Jamaican-American mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ul ...

was expected to face

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 ...

at the event. However, Sterling pulled out of the fight on November 23 citing injury. Assunção was subsequently removed from the card with the pairing expected to be rescheduled for a future event. The Ultimate Fighter: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia women's strawweight winner

Tatiana Suarez Tatiana Yadira Suarez Padilla (born December 19, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist with a background in wrestling who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). She was the strawweight ...

was expected to face Juliana Lima at the event. However, Suarez pulled out of the fight on November 23 citing injury. She was replaced on December 2 by promotional newcomer

JJ Aldrich JJ Aldrich (born September 29, 1992) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Flyweight division. She is currently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and has fought for Invicta FC. Background Aldrich was born to a ho ...

. Patrick Cummins was expected to face

Gian Villante Gianpiero Villante (born August 18, 1985) is a retired American mixed martial artist who previously fought in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional from 2009 to 2021, he also has competed for Strikeforce ...

at the event. However, Cummins pulled out of the fight on December 2 citing a

staph infection A staphylococcal infection or staph infection is an infection caused by members of the ''Staphylococcus'' genus of bacteria. These bacteria commonly inhabit the skin and nose where they are innocuous, but may enter the body through cuts or abrasio ...

. He was replaced by promotional newcomer

Saparbek Safarov Saparbek Dibirovich Safarov (russian: Сапарбек Сафаров; born 14 October 1986) is a Russian mixed martial artist, who competes in the light heavyweight division. He competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Mixed martial art ...

. At the weigh-ins,

Justine Kish Svetlana Nasibulina (born 13 April 1988), known professionally by her ring name Justine Kish, is an American mixed martial artist that competes in the Flyweight division of Bellator MMA. A professional since 2010, she has also competed in the Ult ...

came in at 116.4 lb, 0.4 lb over the women's strawweight limit of 116 lb. As a result, Kish was fined 20% of her purse, which went to her opponent

Ashley Yoder Ashley Elizabeth Yoder (born October 20, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist and competes in Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Biography Yoder was born on October 20, 1987 in Indianapolis, Indiana, United ...

and the bout proceeded as scheduled at a catchweight.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses: *Fight of the Night: Gian Villante vs. Saparbek Safarov *Performance of the Night: Francis Ngannou and Gerald Meerschaert

References

{{UFC Events UFC Fight Night Mixed martial arts in New York (state) Sports in Albany, New York 2016 in mixed martial arts 2016 in sports in New York (state), Events in Albany, New York December 2016 sports events in the United States

Background

Results

Bonus awards

See also

References