UFC 79
| UFC 79: Nemesis | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | December 29, 2007 | |||
| Venue | Mandalay Bay Events Center | |||
| City | Paradise, Nevada | |||
| Attendance | 11,075 (10,968 paid) | |||
| Total gate | $4,994,000 | |||
| Buyrate | 750,000+ | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 79: Nemesis was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), that took place on December 29, 2007 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.[1]
Background
The main events featured the long anticipated fight between Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva,[2] as well as the highly anticipated rubber match between former UFC Welterweight Champions Georges St-Pierre and Matt Hughes for the interim Welterweight championship.[3]
Additionally, Pride Light Heavyweight sensation Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou made his UFC debut against undefeated Lyoto Machida.[4]
The main event was originally to pit The Ultimate Fighter 6 coaches Matt Serra and Matt Hughes for Serra's UFC Welterweight Championship, which Serra won at UFC 69: Shootout on April 7, 2007 in an upset victory over Georges St-Pierre.[1] Serra, however, withdrew from the fight due to a back injury,[5] and was replaced by St-Pierre, though the fight would now be contested for the Interim Welterweight Championship, with the winner facing Serra afterwards.
Results
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Interim Welterweight | Georges St-Pierre | def | Matt Hughes | Verbal submission (armbar) | 2 | 4:54 | [lower-alpha 1] |
| Light Heavyweight | Chuck Liddell | def | Wanderlei Silva | unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Eddie Sanchez | def | Soa Palelei | TKO (strikes) | 3 | 3:24 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Lyoto Machida | def | Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou | submission (arm-triangle choke) | 2 | 4:20 | |
| Lightweight | Rich Clementi | def | Melvin Guillard | submission (rear naked choke) | 1 | 4:40 | |
| Preliminary card | |||||||
| Light Heavyweight | James Irvin | def | Luiz Cane | disqualification (illegal knee) | 1 | 1:51 | |
| Lightweight | Manny Gamburyan | def | Nate Mohr | submission (achillies lock) | 1 | 1:31 | [lower-alpha 2] |
| Middleweight | Dean Lister | def | Jordan Radev | unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Roan Carneiro | def | Tony DeSouza | TKO (strikes) | 2 | 3:33 | |
| Lightweight | Mark Bocek | def | Doug Evans | unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
Bonus awards
At the end of this event, $50,000 was awarded to each of the fighters who received one of these three awards.[6]
- Fight of the Night: Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva
- Knockout of the Night: Eddie Sanchez
- Submission of the Night: Georges St-Pierre
Fighter payouts
The disclosed fighter payroll for UFC 79 was $1,199,000. The figures do not include sponsor payments, fees, taxes, or special award bonuses[7]
Georges St-Pierre def. Matt Hughes
- St-Pierre – $160,000 (includes $80,000 win bonus)
- Hughes – $100,000
Chuck Liddell def. Wanderlei Silva
- Liddell – $500,000 (no win bonus)
- Silva – $150,000
Eddie Sanchez def. Soa Palelei
- Sanchez – $46,000 (includes $23,000 win bonus)
- Palelei – $5,000
Lyoto Machida def. Sokoudjou
- Machida – $60,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus)
- Sokoudjou – $40,000
Rich Clementi def. Melvin Guillard
- Clementi – $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus)
- Guillard – $10,000
James Irvin def. Luiz Arthur Cane
- Irvin – $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
- Cane – $5,000
Manny Gamburyan def. Nate Mohr
- Gamburyan – $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
- Mohr – $6,000
Dean Lister def. Jordan Radev
- Lister – $22,000 (includes $11,000 win bonus)
- Radev – $5,000
Roan Carneiro def. Tony DeSouza
- Carneiro – $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus)
- DeSouza – $7,000
Mark Bocek def. Doug Evans
- Bocek – $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
- Evans – $3,000
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "UFC 79: Nemesis features Serra vs Hughes on December 29th". UFC.com. October 17, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
- ↑ "Finally, Two Legends Meet". ufc.com. October 24, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
- ↑ "BREAKING NEWS: Matt Fighting Georges St. Pierre at UFC 79!". ufc.com. November 24, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-11-26. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
- ↑ Gerbasi, Thomas (November 15, 2007). "UFC Inks Sokoudjou; “The African Assassin” to Debut vs Machida at UFC 79". ufc.com. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ↑ "Serra Injured, Withdraws From UFC 79 Card". ufc.com. November 22, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-22.
- ↑ Stupp, Dan (December 30, 2007). "UFC Issues $200,000 in UFC 79 Bonuses". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
- ↑ "FIGHTER SALARY BREAKDOWN FOR UFC 79". ufcdaily.com. 2008-01-01. Retrieved 2008-01-21.
