Parent company
Zuffa, LLC produced a
UFC Primetime special to promote the title unification match main event. In addition,
UFC 154 was shown in more than 350 movie theaters in the
United States.
Fabio Maldonado was briefly linked to a bout with
Cyrille Diabaté at the event. However, Maldonado was moved to
UFC 153 to face
Glover Teixeira.
Chad Griggs ended up replacing Maldonado to face Diabaté.
Stephen Thompson was expected to face Besam Yousef at the event. However, Thompson was forced out of the bout with a knee injury and was replaced by
Matthew Riddle. Yousef was then forced out with injury, and replaced by
John Maguire. A bout between
Nick Ring and
Costas Philippou was expected to take place at this event. However, the fight was scrapped when Ring fell ill the day of the fight. As a result,
Mark Bocek and
Rafael Dos Anjos was moved to the main card. ==Results==