UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida was a mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

 event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...

 on November 20, 2010 at The Palace of Auburn Hills

The Palace of Auburn Hills

The Palace of Auburn Hills, often referred to simply as The Palace, is a sports and entertainment venue in Auburn Hills, Michigan, a suburb on the northern outskirts of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Opened in 1988, it is the home of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association...

 in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan

Auburn Hills, Michigan

Auburn Hills is a city in Metro Detroit, Oakland County, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 21,412 at the 2010 census. The city was formed in 1983 when Pontiac Township became the City of Auburn Hills.-Economy:...

. It was the first UFC event in the Metro Detroit

Metro Detroit

The Detroit metropolitan area, often referred to as Metro Detroit, is the metropolitan area located in Southeast Michigan centered on the city of Detroit which shares an international border with Windsor, Ontario. The Detroit metropolitan area is the second largest U.S. metropolitan area...

 area since UFC 9

UFC 9

UFC 9: Motor City Madness was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on May 17, 1996, at the Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan...

.

Background

Before the start of the card, Jose Aldo was awarded the UFC Featherweight title by Dana White.

UFC 123 featured preliminary fights live on Spike TV.

On October 13, Rory MacDonald

Rory MacDonald (fighter)

Rory MacDonald is a Canadian professional mixed martial artist. He holds MMA lightweight titles with King of the Cage and King of the Cage Canada. MacDonald has signed a four-fight deal with UFC and debuted in January 2010....

 had to withdraw from his fight against Matt Brown

Matt Brown (fighter)

Matthew Burton Brown is an American professional mixed martial artist.Brown starred in the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter television series and was eliminated from the show in the ninth episode due to a loss to Amir Sadollah by Triangle Choke...

. He was replaced by Brian Foster

Brian Foster (fighter)

|-| Win|align=center| 18–5| Laverne Clark| Submission | Capital City Cage Wars 7| |align=center| 1|align=center| 2:31|Springfield, Illinois||-| Win|align=center| 17–5| Jack Mason| Submission | Cage Warriors 44|...

.

Gabe Ruediger

Gabe Ruediger

Gabriel G. "Gabe" Ruediger is an American mixed martial artist, currently competing in the lightweight division.-Mixed martial arts career:...

 was scheduled to face Paul Kelly, but was forced off the card with a groin injury on October 25. T.J. O'Brien replaced Ruediger.

Darren Elkins

Darren Elkins

Darren Elkins is an American mixed martial artist currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he fights in the featherweight division.-Ultimate Fighting Championship:...

 withdrew from his matchup with Edson Barboza and was replaced by Mike Lullo

Mike Lullo

Mike Lullo is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the featherweight division.-Mixed martial arts career:Lullo began his mixed martial arts career competing mostly in regional promotions across his native Midwestern United States, compiling a record of 8-2 before signing with...

.

Preliminary card

• Lightweight bout:   Tyson Griffin
  Tyson Griffin
  Tyson Lee Griffin is an American mixed martial artist from Albany, California. Griffin currently fights as a Featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship .-Early life:...
  
   vs.   Nik Lentz
  Nik Lentz
  Nik Lentz is an American mixed martial artist. Lentz is currently signed under the Ultimate Fighting Championships promotion, fighting in the lightweight division.-Background:...
  
  

Lentz defeated Griffin via split decision (29–28, 27–30, 29–28)

• Lightweight bout:   Paul Kelly vs.   TJ O'Brien

Kelly defeated O'Brien via TKO (elbows) at 3:18 of round 2. This bout aired on the PPV broadcast following the Davis vs. Boetsch fight.

• Lightweight bout:   Mike Lullo
  Mike Lullo
  Mike Lullo is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the featherweight division.-Mixed martial arts career:Lullo began his mixed martial arts career competing mostly in regional promotions across his native Midwestern United States, compiling a record of 8-2 before signing with...
  
   vs.   Edson Barboza

Barboza defeated Lullo via TKO (leg kicks) at 0:26 of round 3. This bout aired last on the PPV broadcast following the Jackson vs. Machida fight.

• Welterweight bout:   Karo Parisyan
  Karo Parisyan
  Karapet Parisyan is an Armenian-American mixed martial artist. From his days as a UFC mainstay Karo holds notable wins over Ryo Chonan, Shonie Carter, Drew Fickett, Matt Serra, Nick Thompson, Chris Lytle, Nick Diaz and Antonio McKee.- Early life:...
  
   vs.   Dennis Hallman
  Dennis Hallman
  Dennis Lloyd Hallman is an American professional mixed martial artist from the U.S. state of Washington. A former state champion wrestler, Hallman is known best for his expertise as a grappler. He has appeared in many fight organizations, including UFC, Strikeforce, IFL, Shooto, Rumble on the...
  
  

Hallman defeated Parisyan via TKO (punches) at 1:47 of round 1. This bout aired on the Spike broadcast following the Brown vs. Foster fight. This bout also aired on the PPV broadcast following the Hughes vs. Penn fight.

Preliminary card (televised)

• Middleweight bout:   Aaron Simpson
  Aaron Simpson (fighter)
  Aaron Michael Simpson is an American mixed martial artist who competes as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Before starting his mixed martial arts career, Simpson was a standout wrestler. In high school, Simpson compiled a 142–1 record wrestling for Antelope Union High School...
  
   vs.   Mark Muñoz
  Mark Munoz
  Mark Muñoz is an American mixed martial artist of Filipino descent currently fighting in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.Muñoz is known for his wrestling ability and his relentless ground-and-pound...
  
  

Muñoz defeated Simpson via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)

• Welterweight bout:   Matt Brown
  Matt Brown (fighter)
  Matthew Burton Brown is an American professional mixed martial artist.Brown starred in the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter television series and was eliminated from the show in the ninth episode due to a loss to Amir Sadollah by Triangle Choke...
  
   vs.   Brian Foster
  Brian Foster (fighter)
  |-| Win|align=center| 18–5| Laverne Clark| Submission | Capital City Cage Wars 7| |align=center| 1|align=center| 2:31|Springfield, Illinois||-| Win|align=center| 17–5| Jack Mason| Submission | Cage Warriors 44|...
  
  

Foster defeated Brown via submission (guillotine choke) at 2:11 of round 2.

Main card

• Lightweight bout:   George Sotiropoulos
  George Sotiropoulos
  George Sotiropoulos is an Australian mixed martial artist who is currently fighting in the UFC in the lightweight division. He is well known for appearing as a fighter on the TV show The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra, fighting on Team Serra...
  
   vs.   Joe Lauzon
  Joe Lauzon
  Joseph E. Lauzon Jr. is an American mixed martial artist from Brockton, Massachusetts. He currently lives in Massachusetts and is training at Lauzon MMA in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.-Early life and background:...
  
  

Sotiropoulos defeated Lauzon via submission (kimura) at 2:43 of round 2.

• Light Heavyweight bout:   Phil Davis
  Phil Davis (fighter)
  Phil Kwabina Davis is an American mixed martial artist who currently fights in Ultimate Fighting Championship's light heavyweight division...
  
   vs.   Tim Boetsch
  Tim Boetsch
  Tim Boetsch is an American mixed martial artist currently fighting in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship . He was released by the UFC in late June 2009, with a record of 2 wins and 2 losses...
  
  

Davis defeated Boetsch via submission (modified "Mr. Wonderful" kimura) at 2:55 of round 2.

• Middleweight bout:   Gerald Harris vs.   Maiquel Falcão
  Maiquel Falcão
  Maiquel José Falcão Gonçalves is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who is best known for his one-fight stint with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, fighting in the middleweight division.-Ultimate Fighting Championship:...
  
  

Falcão defeated Harris via unanimous decision (29–27, 29–28, 29–28).

• Welterweight bout:   Matt Hughes
  Matt Hughes (fighter)
  Matthew Allen Hughes is an American mixed martial artist, UFC Hall of Famer, and former two-time UFC Welterweight Champion. Hughes put together two separate six-fight winning streaks in the UFC, won the welterweight title on two occasions, defended the belt a record seven times, and holds the...
  
   vs.   B.J. Penn

Penn defeated Hughes via KO (punches) at 0:21 of round 1

• Light Heavyweight bout:   Quinton Jackson
  Quinton Jackson
  Quinton Ramone Jackson ;, also known as Rampage Jackson, is an American mixed martial artist and actor. He is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Jackson rose to prominence in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships where he was noted for his powerful body slams including a knockout victory over...
  
   vs.   Lyoto Machida
  Lyoto Machida
  Lyoto Carvalho Machida is a Japanese-Brazilian mixed martial artist from Belém, Brazil who fights as a light heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship...
  
  

Jackson defeated Machida via spit decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).

Bonus Awards

Fighters were awarded $80,000 bonuses.

• Fight of the Night:   George Sotiropoulos vs.   Joe Lauzon
• Knockout of the Night:   B.J. Penn
• Submission of the Night:   Phil Davis

Controversy

A formal complaint was filed with Michigan's Unarmed Combat Commission regarding the timekeeping of the Harris-Falcão match. Near the end of the first round, Falcão was choking Harris. The allegation is that the timekeeper ended the round six seconds early and in turn had the round not ended early, Falcão may have successfully choked out Harris. Despite Falcão ultimately winning the fight by decision, the formal complaint was filed on January 13, 2011.