UFC 138

Lore & Background

The event was the second that the UFC has hosted in Birmingham, the first was UFC 89 back in 2008 also featuring Chris Leben in the main event. The main event was the first non-title five round fight in the history of the UFC. After the event Chris Leben tested positive for illegal substances and was subsequently suspended for a year.

In Their Own Story

The MGM Grand Garden Arena hummed with a low, electric tension. Two thousand fans packed the lower bowl, their voices a distant roar that bled through the concrete walls. In the back corner, Sonnen bounced on the balls of his feet, mouthguard in, eyes locked on the opposite side of the cage where Jones stood with his arms loose, almost bored. The bell rang. Jones didn't rush. He let Sonnen come, let the veteran's jab find air, and then—just a flick of the wrist, a right hand that seemed to come from nowhere—Sonnen's chin snapped back. The arena exhaled. Jones stepped forward, and the next three punches were less about power and more about arithmetic: one, two, three, and the referee's arms were up. Four minutes, forty-five seconds. Jones rolled to his back, stared at the cage ceiling, and said nothing. The noise that followed was not applause so much as a collective gasp, the sound of two thousand people realizing they had just watched something that would be replayed in slow motion for a decade.

Reader's Guide

Mark Scanlon was expected to face James Head but was replaced by John Maguire; Head then pulled out and was replaced by Justin Edwards. Pascal Krauss was expected to face John Hathaway but pulled out due to shoulder injury and was replaced by Matt Brown; Hathaway then withdrew due to injury, and Brown was moved to UFC 139. Phil De Fries was expected to face Oli Thompson, but Thompson withdrew due to injury; De Fries fought Rob Broughton instead. Anthony Njokuani was scheduled to fight Paul Taylor, but Taylor sustained a whiplash injury from a minor traffic collision on November 1; Njokuani was moved to a future card, and a prelim fight between Cyrille Diabate and Anthony Perosh was promoted to the main card.

Did You Know?

• The main event was the first non-title five round fight in UFC history.
• This event averaged 1.8 million viewers on Spike TV.
• Chris Leben tested positive for illegal substances after the event and was suspended for a year.