''UFC 180: Werdum vs. Hunt'' 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 November 15, 2014, at

Arena Ciudad de México Mexico City Arena ( es, Arena Ciudad de México) is an indoor arena in Azcapotzalco, Mexico City, Mexico. It hosts concerts, sports, and other events. It officially opened on February 25, 2012. The total cost of the arena was $300 million. The a ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Background

The event was the first the organization hosted in

and was so popular that all 21,000 tickets were sold out in 8 hours. The event was expected to be headlined by 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 the current champion

Cain Velasquez Caín Ramirez Velasquez (born July 28, 1982) is an American professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist, currently appearing for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). He is widely known for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, ...

and top contender

Fabrício Werdum Fabrício Werdum (; born 30 July 1977) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC Heavyweight Champion who competes in the Heavyweight division. He is also a 4-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, a two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Wor ...

. However, on October 21, it was announced that Velasquez was forced to pull out of the bout due to an injured knee and was replaced by

Mark Hunt Mark Richard Hunt (born 23 March 1974) is a New Zealand former mixed martial artist and kickboxer of Samoan descent, currently living in Sydney, Australia. Hunt competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) until 2018 and was the winn ...

. That also changed the originally planned title fight into an interim title bout. Also featured on the card were the featherweight and bantamweight finals of the inaugural installment of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America.

Norman Parke Norman Parke (born 22 December 1986) is a Northern Irish mixed martial artist. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Parke has fought for the UFC, Absolute Championship Berkut, KSW, and BAMMA. He was also a competitor for Team UK on The U ...

was expected to face

Diego Sanchez Diego Sanchez (born December 31, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He competes in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2002, Sanchez is most known for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (U ...

at the event. However, Parke pulled out of the bout in early October citing a knee injury and was briefly replaced by

Joe Lauzon Joseph Edward Lauzon Jr. (born May 22, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist, competing in the UFC's Lightweight division. A well-rounded fighter, he has the fourth most post-fight bonus awards in UFC history, behind Donald Ce ...

. In turn, injuries to both Sanchez and Lauzon led to the pairing being scrapped altogether.

Érik Pérez Érik Gregorio Pérez Ruvalcaba (born November 19, 1989) is a Mexican mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division of the Bellator MMA promotion. A professional competitor since 2008, he has competed for Shark Fights, BAMMA, U ...

was expected to face

Marcus Brimage Marcus Clyde Brimage (born April 6, 1985) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Featherweight division. A professional competitor since 2007, he has formerly competed for the UFC and was a competitor on The Ultimate Figh ...

at the event. However, Pérez pulled out of the bout due to a shoulder injury. In turn, Brimage was then pulled from the card as well and was matched up with

Jumabieke Tuerxun Jumabieke Tuerxun ( kk, Жұмабек Тұрсын) is a Kazakh-Chinese mixed martial arts fighter and trainer. He currently fights as a Bantamweight. Early life Jumabieke is an ethnic Kazakh from the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang. ...

for an earlier bout at UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Bisping. Two announced bouts between ''The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America'' contestants Masio Fullen vs. Alexander Torres and Fredy Serrano vs. Bentley Syler, previously linked to this event were postponed and will be rescheduled at future events.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses: *Fight of the Night: Henry Briones vs. Guido Cannetti *Performance of the Night: Fabrício Werdum and Kelvin Gastelum

References

{{UFC Events Ultimate Fighting Championship events Events in Mexico City Sports competitions in Mexico City Mixed martial arts in Mexico 2014 in mixed martial arts

Background

Results

Bonus awards

See also

References