UFC 120

Lore & Background

The main event featured The Ultimate Fighter 3 winner Michael Bisping and Japanese judoka Yoshihiro Akiyama. Bisping won via unanimous decision with all three judges scoring 30–27. The co-main event saw Dan Hardy face Carlos Condit; Condit knocked out Hardy in the first round, giving Hardy his first knockout loss. The event was the fourth UFC event at the O2 Arena and the first since UFC 95. It was the ninth event held in the United Kingdom and the first since UFC 105. UFC 120 became, at that time, the ninth highest attended event in UFC history.

In Their Own Story

The MGM Grand Garden Arena hummed with a low, electric buzz. Two thousand fans pressed against the cage, their breath fogging the steel. Inside, Belfort bounced on the balls of his feet, the old ritual, the old fire. Across from him, dos Santos stood tall and still, arms loose, chin tucked—patient as a crocodile. The bell rang. Belfort surged forward, a left hook, a right, the crowd roaring. Dos Santos slipped the left, stepped in, and threw a single right cross that connected flush on Belfort's jaw. The former champion's eyes went glassy. He folded. The referee was already moving. In the silence that followed, dos Santos raised his arms, not in celebration but in relief, as if he had been holding his breath for two years. Belfort sat on the canvas, a hand over his mouth, and the arena exhaled. Somewhere in the front row, a man in a Belfort jersey slowly peeled it off and set it on the seat beside him, then stood and walked out into the Las Vegas night without looking back.

Reader's Guide

The first UK UFC Fan Expo coincided with this event and was held at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre on Friday October 15 and Saturday October 16. Aside from the live broadcast in Britain and Canada, this event aired on the same day, via tape delay, on Spike TV in the U.S.

Did You Know?

• Michael Bisping sought to maintain his perfect record in Europe, having only ever been defeated in the United States and Australia.
• Yoshihiro Akiyama was headlining his first UFC card at UFC 120.
• Dan Hardy entered the contest having become the first Englishman to compete in a UFC Championship bout, albeit unsuccessfully.
• Carlos Condit was the former World Extreme Cagefighting Welterweight champion.