''UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Ortega'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 123'') 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 ...
that was held on December 9, 2017, at
Save Mart Center
Save Mart Center at Fresno State is a multi-purpose arena, on the campus of California State University, Fresno (Fresno State), located in Fresno, California. An open house was held for the community on November 5, 2003, with the official ribbon ...
in
Fresno, California
Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...
.
Background
While the UFC has hosted many events in
Northern California
Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
, the event marked the promotion's first visit to Fresno.
Former
Zuffa
Zuffa, LLC () is an American sports promotion company specializing in mixed martial arts. It was founded in January 2001 in Las Vegas, Nevada, by Station Casinos executives Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta to be the parent entity of the ...
subsidiary
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'', ...
previously contested five events in Fresno, the most recent in
October 2010.
A featherweight bout between
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 ...
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 ...
served as the event headliner.
Promotional newcomer John Phillips was expected to face
Eryk Anders
Eryk Ryan Anders (born April 21, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist and former American football linebacker. He competes in the Middleweight division of the UFC. He played college football at the University of Alabama.
Early ...
at the event. However, Phillips was removed from the card on November 2 and was replaced by fellow newcomer
Markus Perez Echeimberg
Markus Perez Echeimberg (born June 22, 1990) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division. A professional since 2013, he has also fought for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Jungle Fight and the Legac ...
.
Rani Yahya
Rani Ahmad Yahya (born September 12, 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and BJJ practitioner. He won the 66 kg division of the prestigious ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in April 2007. He currently fights in t ...
was expected to face
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 ...
at this event. However, Yahya was forced to pull out from the card on November 7 due to injury.
He was replaced by former
WSOF Bantamweight Champion Marlon Moraes
Marlon Luiz Moraes (born April 26, 1988) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division of the Professional Fighters League (PFL). He previously competed in the bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Champi ...
.
Bryan Caraway
Bryan Caraway (born August 4, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in Battlefield Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2005, Caraway has fought in the UFC, Strikeforce, EliteXC, and the WEC. He was ...
was expected to face
Luke Sanders
Luke Daniel Sanders (born December 12, 1985) is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed in the Bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2011, he also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Strikeforce an ...
at the event. However, on November 20, Caraway pulled out of the fight due to undisclosed reasons. He was replaced by
Andre Soukhamthath
Andre Soukhamthath ( lo, ອານເດຣ ສຸຄຳທັດ, born October 23, 1988) is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed in the Bantamweight division. A professional mixed martial artist from 2011 until 2022, he had compe ...
.
Carls John de Tomas and
Alex Perez were expected to meet in a flyweight bout at this event. However, the
CSAC elected to move the bout to the bantamweight division as they were concerned with De Tomas weight during fight week.
Benito Lopez was fined 10% of his show money by the CSAC due to shoving his opponent
Albert Morales
Albert Morales (born May 25, 1991) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division. He has also competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and of Bellator MMA.
Background
Born and raised in Southern Califor ...
at the weigh-ins ceremony. That money will go directly to the commission.
Results
Bonus awards
The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses:
*Fight of the Night: Brian Ortega vs. Cub Swanson
*Performance of the Night: Brian Ortega and Marlon Moraes
Reported payout
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the
California State Athletic Commission
The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) regulates amateur and professional boxing, amateur and professional kickboxing and professional mixed martial arts (MMA) throughout the State by licensing all participants and supervising the events. ...
. 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 $866,000.
* Brian Ortega: $58,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus) def. Cub Swanson: $76,000
* Gabriel Benítez: $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus) def. Jason Knight: $31,000
* Marlon Moraes: $146,000 (includes $73,000 win bonus) def. Aljamian Sterling: $36,000
* Scott Holtzman: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus) def. Darrell Horcher: $15,000
* Eryk Anders: $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus) def. Markus Perez: $12,000
* Benito Lopez: $19,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Albert Morales: $15,000 ^
* Alexis Davis: $64,000 (includes $32,000 win bonus) def. Liz Carmouche: $30,000
* Andre Soukhamthath: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Luke Sanders: $12,000
* Alex Perez: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Carls John de Tomas: $10,000
* Frankie Saenz: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus) def. Merab Dvalishvili: $10,000
* Alejandro Pérez: $46,000 (includes $23,000 win bonus) def. Iuri Alcântara: $29,000
* Davi Ramos: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Chris Gruetzemacher: $12,000
* Trevin Giles: $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus) def. Antônio Braga Neto: $10,000
^ ''Benito Lopez was fined 10 percent of his purse ($1,000) for shoving his opponent at the weigh-ins ceremony. That money went directly to the commission.''
Aftermath
On December 29, it was announced that Carl John de Tomas failed a
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 ...
drug test stemming from his appearance at this event following his weigh-in. On February 5, he accepted a one-year suspension.
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 ...
*
2017 in UFC
References
{{UFC Events
UFC Fight Night
2017 in mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts in California
Sports competitions in Fresno, California
December 2017 sports events in the United States
2017 in sports in California