UFC Fight Night: Rodríguez vs. Penn

This was the second event the organization hosted in Phoenix. A featherweight bout between The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America featherweight winner Yair Rodríguez and former UFC Lightweight and Welterweight Champion B.J. Penn served as the event headliner. This was Penn's first fight in the organization in over two-and-a-half years. Erik Koch was expected to face Anthony Rocco Martin at the event. However, Koch pulled out of the fight on December 12 citing injury and was replaced by Alex White. Damian Grabowski was expected to face Viktor Pešta at the event. However, Grabowski was removed from the bout on December 21 for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Alexey Oleynik. On December 29, two bouts suffered alterations: Jussier Formiga pulled out from his bout against Sergio Pettis and Jordan Rinaldi from his bout against Devin Powell. They were replaced by former UFC Flyweight Championship challenger John Moraga and promotional newcomer Drakkar Klose, respectively. Bryan Caraway was expected to face Jimmie Rivera at the event. However, Caraway pulled out of the bout on January 4 citing an undisclosed injury. He was replaced by Marlon Vera. Eventually, Rivera pulled from the fight as he felt going from a top-5 ranked fighter to an unranked one wouldn't make sense at that moment. ==Results==

The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses: • Fight of the Night: Augusto Mendes vs. Frankie Saenz • Performance of the Night: Yair Rodríguez and Oleksiy Oliynyk ==Reported payout==

The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the Arizona Boxing & Mixed Martial Arts Commission. It does not include sponsor money and also does not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses. The total disclosed payout for the event was $841,000. • Yair Rodríguez: $100,000 (includes $50,000 win bonus) def. B.J. Penn: $150,000 • Joe Lauzon: $116,000 (includes $58,000 win bonus) def. Marcin Held: $20,000 • Ben Saunders: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus) def. Court McGee: $35,000 • Sergio Pettis: $54,000 (includes $27,000 win bonus) def. John Moraga: $28,000 • Drakkar Klose: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Devin Powell: $10,000 • Augusto Mendes: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Frankie Saenz: $20,000 • Oleksiy Oliynyk: $48,000 (includes $24,000 win bonus) def. Viktor Pešta: $10,000 • Tony Martin: $32,000 (includes $16,000 win bonus) def. Alex White: $14,000 • Nina Ansaroff: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger: $10,000 • Walt Harris: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Chase Sherman: $10,000 • Joachim Christensen: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Bojan Mihajlović: $10,000 • Cyril Asker: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Dmitrii Smoliakov: $10,000 ==See also==