On Sunday, Jan. 17, the UFC hosted UFC Fight Night 81: Dillashaw vs. Cruz from the TD Garden in Boston.
In the night’s main event, the promotion’s bantamweight champion, T.J. Dillashaw, put his belt on the line against former titleholder Dominick Cruz. Dillashaw rose to the top of the division while Cruz battled injuries and was forced to relinquish the belt. Dillashaw captured the belt at UFC 173 with a fifth-round stoppage of Renan Barao and has since defended the belt twice. Cruz had fought just once in the last four years, earning a 61-second knockout of Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 178. The 30-year-old, who held the title in both the WEC and the UFC, had not tasted defeat since 2007, but had struggled with multiple knee injuries.
The co-main event of the evening featured a lightweight match-up between former Bellator MMA champion Eddie Alvarez and former WEC and UFC titleholder Anthony Pettis.
The 13-fight event kicked off Sunday with five preliminary card bouts streaming live on UFC Fight Pass at 6 p.m. ET. Four additional preliminary card bouts aired on Fox Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET, with the four-fight main card taking place at 10 p.m. ET, also on Fox Sports 1.
Eddie Alvarez def. Anthony Pettis by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Travis Browne def. Matt Mitrione by TKO (strikes). Round 3, 4:09
Francisco Trinaldo def. Ross Pearson by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Patrick Cote def. Ben Saunders by TKO (punches). Round 2, 1:14
Ed Herman def. Tim Boetsch by TKO (strikes). Round 2, 1:39
Chris Wade def. Medhi Baghdad by submission (rear-naked choke). Round 1, 2:09
Luke Sanders def. Maximo Blanco by submission (rear-naked choke). Round 1, 3:38
Paul Felder def. Daron Cruickshank by submission (rear-naked choke). Round 3, 3:56
Ilir Latifi def. Sean O’Connell by knockout (punches). Round 1, :30
Charles Rosa def. Kyle Bochniak by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Rob Font def. Joey Gomez by TKO (strikes). Round 2, 4:13
Francimar Barroso def. Elvis Mutapcic by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)