UFC 187

It was previously assumed that the main fight of the evening will be a duel for the UFC light heavyweight title between current champion John Jones and main challenger Anthony Johnson . However, on April 28, the organization stripped Jones of his league title and suspended him from performing indefinitely due to an incident with an escape from the scene of an accident (see below ). After the removal of Jones, the rival Anthony Johnson in the fight for the vacant title was appointed the previous challenger - Daniel Cormier , who had already scheduled a fight against Ryan Bader in the UFC Fight Night 68 ^[2] .

The second most important event of the evening was the fight for the UFC middleweight title between the reigning champion Chris Weidman and former light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort . The meeting of these fighters was postponed more than once for various reasons. At first, Belfort withdrew from UFC 173 after the Nevada Athletic Commission banned the use of testosterone replacement therapy ^[3] . Then, Weidman’s injuries - a broken arm ^[4] and a broken rib ^[5], respectively, became the reasons for the transfer from UFC 181 and UFC 184 .

As part of the event, a fight was to be held for the status of a contender for the UFC lightweight champion title between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Donald Cerrone . However, on April 30, it became known that Nurmagomedov injured his knee in training, so he was replaced by John McDessey ^[6] . Another permutation took place in the welterweight, where a duel was supposed to be between Sean Spencer and Mike Pyle , but Spencer was forced to withdraw and was replaced by Colby Covington ^[7] .

During the weighing procedure, Nina Ansaroff did not meet the required minimum weight category (52.2 kg). She was given extra time, but she made no attempt to lose weight. Instead, she was fined 20% of her fee, which went to her rival Rose Namayunas ^[8] . Moreover, their fight did not take place, as Ansaroff got the flu and doctors forbade her to speak two hours before the event.

The John Jones Incident

On the morning of April 26th, in the city of Albuquerque , New Mexico, Jones drove into a red light and collided with a car driven by a pregnant woman. Jones fled the scene of an accident, and the woman was taken to hospital with a minor fracture of her arm. But later he returned to the car and took away a large amount of money ^[9] . During a search of the car, police found Jones' documents and a marijuana smoking pipe containing a narcotic substance. City police put the soldier on the wanted list and the next day he surrendered to the authorities on his own, but was released on bail of $ 2,500 ^[10] . After this incident, Jones was stripped of his league title and disqualified indefinitely. ^[2] However, this case ended rather mildly for Jones - 18 months of probation and a fine. This was not the only case when Jones violated the law and traffic rules . In 2011, he was arrested for driving a car without a driver’s license. In 2012, he rammed a tree on a brand new Bentley , and the court proved that during the detention he was intoxicated.

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The following fighters received bonus payments of $ 50,000 ^[12] :

• Best fight of the evening: Andrei Orlovsky vs. Travis Brown

• Performance of the evening: Daniel Cormier and Chris Weidman

The following are the official payouts published by the Nevada Athletic Commission. They do not include sponsorship money, profits from the sale of paid broadcasts and prize money for rewards ^[13] .

• Daniel Cormier: $ 180,000 (including $ 90,000 win bonus) Anthony Johnson ($ 500,000)
• Chris Weidman: $ 500,000 (including $ 250,000 win bonus) Vitor Belfort ($ 300,000)
• Donald Cerrone: $ 152,000 (including $ 76,000 win bonus) John McDessey ($ 30,000)
• Andrey Orlovsky: $ 84,000 (including a bonus for winning $ 42,000) Travis Brown ($ 60,000)
• Joseph Benavides: $ 106,000 (including $ 53,000 win bonus) John Moragu ($ 28,000)
• John Dodson: $ 40,000 (including $ 20,000 win bonus) Zack Makovsky ($ 19,000)
• Don Hyun Kim: $ 116,000 (including $ 58,000 win bonus) Josh Burkman ($ 45,000)
• Rafael Natal: $ 70,000 (including $ 35,000 win bonus) Yurayu Hall ($ 14,000)
• Colby Covington: $ 24,000 (including $ 12,000 win bonus) Mike Pyle ($ 51,000)
• Islam Makhachev: $ 20,000 (including $ 10,000 win bonus) Leo Kunza ($ 10,000)
• Justin Skoggins: $ 30,000 (including $ 15,000 win bonus) Josh Sampo ($ 13,000)

UFC Event List