''UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 54'') 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 at the

Scotiabank Centre Scotiabank Centre (formerly known as Halifax Metro Centre) is the largest multi-purpose facility in Atlantic Canada, located in the heart of downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The main entrances to the building are located on Brunswick Str ...

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on October 4, 2014.

Background

This event was the first event the UFC hosted in Halifax and the third event in Canada in 2014, following The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale: Bisping vs. Kennedy and UFC 174. The main event featured a welterweight bout between Rory MacDonald and

Tarec Saffiedine Tarec Robert Saffiedine (born 6 September 1986) is a Belgian former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Saffiedine has also f ...

. A bout between

Paige VanZant Paige Michelle VanZant (''née'' Sletten; married name Vanderford; born March 26, 1994), is an American mixed martial artist, bare knuckle boxer, professional wrestler, author, and model. She is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling, as a wres ...

and Kailin Curran was briefly linked to this event, but delayed a month and rescheduled for

UFC Fight Night 57 ''UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Swanson'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 57'') was a mixed martial arts event held at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, on November 22, 2014. Background The event was the second that the organization had host ...

, after VanZant suffered a minor injury.

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

Mitch Gagnon Mitch Gagnon (born October 10, 1984) is a Canadian mixed martial artist currently competing in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Mixed martial arts career Early career Gagnon began training in 2006 and made his p ...

at this event. However, Sterling was forced to withdraw due to an injury and was replaced by

Rob Font Rob Font (born June 25, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2011, Font formerly competed for CES M ...

. Subsequently, Font pulled out of the fight the week of the event and was replaced by promotional newcomer

Roman Salazar Roman Salazar (born February 21, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Bantamweight division of Bellator. Background Born and raised in raised in the small town of Mammoth, Arizona, Salazar worked for ...

Louis Gaudinot Louis J. Gaudinot (born August 28, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the UFC's Flyweight division. A professional competitor since 2009, Gaudinot has also formerly competed on Spike TV's The Ultimat ...

was expected to face

Paddy Holohan Patrick Holohan (born 3 May 1988) is an Irish politician and retired mixed martial artist who notably competed in the flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor from 2007 until his retirement in 2016, ...

at the event. However, Gaudinot pulled out of the fight in the week leading up to the event and was replaced by promotional newcomer

Chris Kelades Chris Kelades (born February 21, 1981), is a Canadian mixed martial artist and former interim M-1 Challenge Flyweight champion. He previously competed in the Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor ...

. The main card was slated to air 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 ...

, but due to the length of game 2 of the 2014 National League Division Series between the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

and

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

, which went well into extra innings, the event was broadcast on FX instead. A few months after the event, it was revealed that

Pedro Munhoz Pedro Munhozhttp://boxing.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/boxingnvgov/content/results/2014_Results/02-22-14MMA.pdf (born September 7, 1986) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently fighting in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Champion ...

tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone after his win against

Jerrod Sanders Jerrod Sanders (born October 1, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist. He has competed in the bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight divisions. Mixed martial arts career Early career Sanders made his professional MMA debut in March 201 ...

. Munhoz's camp requested testing documentation and didn't receive it until three months later. He said a review of the results by anti-doping specialist Paul Scott determined that his testosterone was not, in fact, elevated, coming in at 850 ng/mL, or on the high end of the normal range for men his age. He admitted to using two supplements allowed by the UFC that may have elevated his testosterone, but not outside the legal limit. On November 4, 2015, Munhoz was suspended for one year retroactive to his fight and his win was changed to a no-contest.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses: *Fight of the Night: Patrick Holohan vs. Chris Kelades *Performance of the Night: Rory MacDonald and Olivier Aubin-Mercier

References

{{UFC Events UFC Fight Night Mixed martial arts in Canada Sport in Nova Scotia 2014 in mixed martial arts

Background

Results

Bonus awards

See also

References