| UFC 79: Nemesis | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 79: Nemesis | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | December 29, 2007 | |||
| Venue | Mandalay Bay Events Center | |||
| City | Las Vegas, Nevada | |||
| Attendance | 11,075 (10,968 paid) | |||
| Total gate | $4,994,000 | |||
| Buyrate | 650,000[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 79: Nemesis was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), that took place on December 29, 2007, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.[2]
The main events featured the fight between Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva,[3] as well as the rubber match between former UFC Welterweight Champions Georges St-Pierre and Matt Hughes for the interim Welterweight championship.[4]
Additionally, Pride Light Heavyweight Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou made his UFC debut against undefeated Lyoto Machida.[5]
The main event was originally scheduled to have The Ultimate Fighter 6 coaches Matt Serra and Matt Hughes for Serra's UFC Welterweight Championship, which Serra won at UFC 69: Shootout on April 7, 2007, in an upset victory over Georges St-Pierre.[2] Serra, however, withdrew from the fight due to a back injury,[6] Serra was replaced by St-Pierre, though the fight would now be contested for the interim Welterweight Championship, with the winner facing Serra afterwards.
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Welterweight | Georges St-Pierre | def. | Matt Hughes | Verbal Submission (armbar) | 2 | 4:54 | [a] |
| Light Heavyweight | Chuck Liddell | def. | Wanderlei Silva | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Eddie Sanchez | def. | Soa Palelei | TKO (punches) | 3 | 3:24 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Lyoto Machida | def. | Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | 2 | 4:20 | |
| Lightweight | Rich Clementi | def. | Melvin Guillard | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 4:40 | |
| Preliminary card | |||||||
| Light Heavyweight | James Irvin | def. | Luiz Cane | Disqualification (illegal knee) | 1 | 1:51 | |
| Lightweight | Manvel Gamburyan | def. | Nate Mohr | Submission (ankle lock) | 1 | 1:31 | [b] |
| Middleweight | Dean Lister | def. | Jordan Radev | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Roan Carneiro | def. | Tony DeSouza | TKO (punches) | 2 | 3:33 | |
| Lightweight | Mark Bocek | def. | Doug Evans | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
At the end of this event, $50,000 was awarded to each of the fighters who received one of these three awards.[7]
