UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Nelson (also known as UFC Fight Night 52) was a mixed martial arts event held on September 20, 2014, at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.[2]
| UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Nelson | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Nelson | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | September 20, 2014 | |||
| Venue | Saitama Super Arena | |||
| City | Saitama, Japan | |||
| Attendance | 12,395[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
The event was the third time that the organization hosted a fight card in Saitama, following UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson in February 2012 and UFC on Fuel TV: Silva vs. Stann in March 2013.
The event was headlined by a heavyweight bout between Roy Nelson and Mark Hunt.[3][4]
Tatsuya Kawajiri was briefly linked to a matchup at the event with Darren Elkins, however the bout never materialized as Kawajiri was sidelined indefinitely with a detached retina.[5]
Chris Cariaso was originally scheduled to face Kyoji Horiguchi at the event.[6] However, Cariaso was pulled from the bout with Horoguchi in favor of a matchup with current flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson at UFC 178.[7] Horiguchi faced Jon Delos Reyes.[8]
Kyle Noke was expected to face Yoshihiro Akiyama at the event, but eventually was forced out of the bout with a knee injury.[9] Akiyama instead faced Amir Sadollah.[10]
Urijah Faber was briefly linked to a bout with Masanori Kanehara at the event. However, before the bout was officially announced, Faber was removed due to injury and Kanehara faced Alex Caceres.[11]
Results
| Main Card (UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Heavyweight | Mark Hunt | def. | Roy Nelson | KO (punch) | 2 | 3:00 | |
| Lightweight | Myles Jury | def. | Takanori Gomi | TKO (punches) | 1 | 1:32 | |
| Welterweight | Yoshihiro Akiyama | def. | Amir Sadollah | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Bantamweight | Miesha Tate | def. | Rin Nakai | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Kiichi Kunimoto | def. | Richard Walsh | Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Flyweight | Kyoji Horiguchi | def. | Jon Delos Reyes | TKO (punches) | 1 | 3:48 | |
| Preliminary card (UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Bantamweight | Masanori Kanehara | def. | Alex Caceres | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Katsunori Kikuno | def. | Sam Sicilia | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 1:38 | |
| Welterweight | Lim Hyun-gyu | def. | Takenori Sato | TKO (elbows) | 1 | 1:18 | |
| Bantamweight | Kang Kyung-ho | def. | Michinori Tanaka | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Johnny Case | def. | Kazuki Tokudome | Technical Submission (guillotine choke) | 2 | 2:34 | |
| Featherweight | Maximo Blanco | def. | Dan Hooker | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
Bonus awards
The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses:[13]
- Fight of the Night: Kyung Ho Kang vs. Michinori Tanaka
- Performance of the Night: Mark Hunt and Johnny Case
^ Bonus winner Michinori Tanaka had his award rescinded after testing positive for banned substances during his post fight drug screening.[14]