''UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 116'') 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 September 16, 2017 at the

PPG Paints Arena PPG Paints Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Pittsburgh, that serves as the home of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). It previously was the home of the Pittsburgh Power of the Arena Football League (AFL) from 2 ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Background

This event was the third that the UFC has hosted in

. A middleweight bout between former

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *'' Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *'' Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *''Marvel Strike Force'', ...

and UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold and former WSOF Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Champion David Branch headlined this event. A heavyweight bout between

Justin Ledet Justin Wayne Ledet (born September 28, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist and boxer who competes in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional since 2010, he has most notably competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship ...

and Dmitriy Sosnovskiy was expected to take place at UFC Fight Night: Bermudez vs. The Korean Zombie. However, Ledet pulled out of the fight on January 26 alleging an undisclosed injury, and promotion officials elected to remove Sosnovskiy from the card. In turn, the UFC confirmed that Ledet was suspended for four months after testing positive for a banned substance. The fight was expected to take place at this event. Subsequently, Sosnovskiy was removed from the card on September 10 and was replaced by promotional newcomer Zu Anyanwu. An August 19 event (originally expected to be UFC 215) had two announced bouts, including a welterweight bout between Mike Perry and former UFC Welterweight Championship challenger Thiago Alves, as well as a middleweight bout between former

Bellator Middleweight Champion Bellator MMA (formerly known as "Bellator Fighting Championships") is an American mixed martial arts promotion, and the following is a history of its champions in each weight class. At the time of its inception in 2008, CEO Bjorn Rebney founded B ...

Héctor Lombard and Anthony Smith. After the event was canceled, both fights took place at this event. In turn, Alves pulled out of the fight on September 13. He was replaced by promotional newcomer Alex Reyes. A middleweight bout between

Krzysztof Jotko Krzysztof Jotko (born August 19, 1989) is a Polish mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division. He has previously fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Born and raised in Orneta, Poland, Jotko was ori ...

and Uriah Hall was expected to take place at UFC Fight Night: Jędrzejczyk vs. Penne in June 2015. However, Hall was removed due to

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, and promotion officials elected to remove Jotko from the card as well. The fight took place at this event. A bantamweight bout between Felipe Arantes and Luke Sanders was pulled from the card after Arantes fell sick on September 14 from an undisclosed illness.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses: *Fight of the Night: Gregor Gillespie vs Jason Gonzalez *Performance of the Night: Mike Perry and Uriah Hall

References

{{UFC Events Events in Pittsburgh UFC Fight Night 2017 in mixed martial arts Sports competitions in Pittsburgh September 2017 sports events in the United States

Background

Results

Bonus awards

See also

References