Have you ever purchased tickets to an event and read the fine print on the back of those tickets? Somewhere on the ticket there will usually be a note informing you that the lineup of the event is subject to change without notice. The UFC has invoked that clause a great deal due to injury. The latest example of this is UFC 161.
UFC 161 was originally scheduled to feature a main event between interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao and Eddie Wineland, but an injury to Barao scuppered that fight. With that, the co-main event bout between Rashad Evans and Dan Henderson was elevated to main event status.
Evans and Henderson have become staples in main events over the years, but that wasn’t always the case. Like most fighters, they worked their way up to headlining fight cards. For Evans, the first time he fought in a main event was UFC Fight Night 8 in January 2007.
Evans entered the event unbeaten, carrying a 9-0 professional record and a 4-0 record with the UFC. His opponent that night was Sean Salmon, a 9-1 fighter who was making his UFC debut.
As main event debuts go, things could not have gone any better for Evans or worse for Salmon. The fight ended with Evans delivering one of the more spectacular head-kick knockouts, leaving cageside commentator Joe Rogan shouting, “His toes are curled up! His toes are still curled up right now, right in front of us!”
Evans took home “Knockout of the Night” honors for his effort while Salmon took home, I’m assuming, one of the bigger headaches of his life.
UFC 161 will take place on June 15 from the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
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