The main event was a rematch between former UFC Heavyweight ChampionCain Velasquez and Antônio Silva. In their first encounter at UFC 146 a year earlier, Velasquez defeated Silva via first-round TKO. Alistair Overeem was expected to face Junior dos Santos at the event. However, in early March, Overeem pulled out of the bout citing a leg injury. It was initially announced that the bout would be rescheduled for a future event, later in the summer of this year. Then, on March 9 it was announced that Dos Santos would remain on the card and face Mark Hunt. Ryan Bader was expected to face Glover Teixeira at the event but withdrew from the bout due to injury in March. He was replaced by James Te Huna Amir Sadollah was expected to face Stephen Thompson at the event. However, Sadollah pulled out of the bout citing an injury and was replaced by Nah-Shon Burrell. Gunnar Nelson was expected to face Mike Pyle at the event. However, Nelson pulled out of the bout citing an injury and was replaced by Rick Story. Dana White announced at the UFC on Fox 7 post-fight press conference that he expects that the winner of the Gray Maynard/TJ Grant fight would get a UFC Lightweight title shot against Benson Henderson. At the weigh-ins, Khabib Nurmagomedov came in heavy weighing in at 158.5 lb. Nurmagomedov was given two hours to cut to the lightweight maximum of 156 pounds, but he elected instead to surrender a percentage of his fight purse to his opponent Abel Trujillo and the bout was contested at a catchweight.
Results
Bonus awards
The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses.
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. It does not include sponsor money and also does not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses.
Cain Velasquez: $400,000 def. Antonio Silva: $75,000
Junior dos Santos: $240,000 def. Mark Hunt: $160,000
Glover Teixeira: $48,000 def. James Te-Huna: $30,000
TJ Grant: $50,000 def. Gray Maynard: $45,000
Donald Cerrone: $82,000 def. K.J. Noons: $41,000
Mike Pyle: $84,000 def. Rick Story: $27,000
Dennis Bermudez: $28,000 def. Max Holloway: $14,000
Robert Whittaker: $30,000 def. Colton Smith: $15,000
Khabib Nurmagomedov: $28,000 def. Abel Trujillo: $8,000 ^
Stephen Thompson: $16,000 def. Nah-Shon Burrell: $9,000
George Roop: $26,000 def. Brian Bowles: $19,000
Jeremy Stephens: $48,000 def. Estevan Payan: $10,000
^ Khabib Nurmagomedov was reportedly fined 20 percent of his purse for failing to make the required weight for his fight. The Nevada State Athletic Commission's initial report did not include information on the penalty.
