''UFC: Fight for the Troops 2'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 23'') was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

event held by the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

on January 22, 2011 at

Fort Hood Fort Cavazos is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. The post is currently named after Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, a native Texan and the US Army’s first Hispanic four-star general. The post is located halfway between Austi ...

, near

Killeen, Texas Killeen is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Bell County. According to the 2020 census, its population was 153,095, making it the 19th-most populous city in Texas and the largest of the three principal cities of Bell County. It is ...

. The event was the third that the UFC has hosted in cooperation with a US military base, following UFC Fight Night 7 and UFC: Fight for the Troops.

Background

The bout between Kenny Florian and Evan Dunham was expected for UFC 126, but was moved to this card to serve as the main event. On December 6, however, Florian pulled out of the bout due to a knee injury. Melvin Guillard was pulled from a planned preliminary bout with

Yves Edwards Yves Edwards (born September 30, 1976) is a Bahamian retired mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, who is best known for competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC's Lightweight (MMA), Lightweight division, fighting 21 times in the p ...

and faced Dunham in the main event. Edwards instead faced TUF 12 alumnus Cody McKenzie. On December 30, 2010, a bout between Mike Swick and David Mitchell was called off due to Mitchell suffering an injury and Swick dealing with his Esophageal Condition. A late replacement fight between

Will Campuzano William Campuzano (born May 27, 1986) is a Mexican professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2008, Campuzano has also formerly competed for the UFC, WEC, Vale Tudo Japan ...

and Chris Cariaso was signed. A lightweight bout between Cole Miller and Matt Wiman, which was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 125, was moved to this event.

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 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in April 2007. He currently fights in the Bantam ...

was expected to face Chan Sung Jung at this event, but Jung was forced from the card with an injury, and replaced by Mike Brown. On January 11, 2011,

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who is the CEO and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at . Out ...

announced that if Mark Hominick defeated

George Roop George H. Roop (born November 10, 1981) is a retired mixed martial artist. He was a cast member of Spike TV's ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir'', winning his preliminary and first round fights. He fought as a Bantamweight (MMA), ...

at this event, he would become the top contender for the UFC Featherweight Championship and would face champion José Aldo at UFC 129. On January 18,

announced that the UFC would be streaming the McKenzie vs. Edwards and

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

vs. Guymon fights for free on their official

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page. However, on the night of the fights, UFC.com officials announced that four prelims would show, adding the Freire vs. Lowe and Brown vs. Yahya fights.

Results

Bonus Awards

The following fighters received $30,000 bonuses. *Fight of the Night: Yves Edwards vs. Cody McKenzie *Knockout of the Night: Melvin Guillard *Submission of the Night: Yves Edwards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ufc Fight Night 23 UFC Fight Night 2011 in mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts events in Texas Killeen, Texas 2011 in sports in Texas January 2011 sports events in the United States