''UFC Fight Night: Bigfoot vs. Mir'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 61'') 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 on February 22, 2015, at the Ginásio Gigantinho in

Porto Alegre, Brazil Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fift ...

Background

The event was the first that the UFC has hosted in the state of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

. A light heavyweight bout between

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 ...

and

Glover Teixeira Glover Lucas Teixeira (; born 28 October 1979) is a Brazilian-American mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champi ...

was expected to serve as the event headliner. However, on January 7, Teixeira was forced out of the bout as his knee, injured in his last fight, was slow to heal and he was unable to resume the proper training to prepare for the fight in that time frame. Evans is expected to be rebooked at a different event with possibly a new opponent. A heavyweight bout between Antônio Silva and former

UFC 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 ...

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 ...

, previously scheduled for

UFC 184 ''UFC 184: Rousey vs. Zingano'' was a mixed martial arts event held on February 28, 2015, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Background A UFC Middleweight Championship bout between Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort was expected to serve ...

, a week later, headlined the event. A welterweight bout between Wendell Oliveira and

TJ Waldburger Anthony "TJ" Waldburger Jr. (born April 25, 1988) is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2005, he competed for the UFC, Shark Fights, and HDNet Fights. Background ...

, slated for the televised preliminary portion of the event, was cancelled on the day of the weigh-ins, after Waldburger passed out while cutting weight. Both fighters were paid their show money. According to Nielsen, the main card broadcast on

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports 2 ...

drew an average 1.21 million US viewers, 35% higher than the network's average Fight Night. The prelims drew 831,000. Viewership peaked at 1.392 million during the Saenz vs Alcântara fight. The event saw a record 10 of 11

underdogs An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...

win, following the first bout. This cost online gambling site Bovada nearly $1 million, including a $48,291 payout on a $1 parlay. Bovada sportsbook manager Kevin Bradley said this would make it hard to have a profitable 2015 in the combat sport market.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses: *Fight of the Night: None awarded *Performance of the Night: Frank Mir, Sam Alvey, Marion Reneau and Matt Dwyer

References

UFC Fight Night Mixed martial arts in Brazil 2015 in mixed martial arts Sports in Porto Alegre 2015 in Brazilian sport February 2015 sports events in South America {{mixedmartialart-stub

Background

Results

Bonus awards

See also

References