2013 in UFC

The year 2013 was the 21st year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. 2013 started with UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping. 2013 also saw the introduction of the women's bantamweight weight class with UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche.

Debut UFC fighters
The following fighters fought their first UFC fight in 2013:


 * Adam Cella
 * Adlan Amagov
 * Adriano Martins
 * Alan Patrick
 * Alex Garcia
 * Alexis Davis
 * Ali Bagautinov
 * Alptekin Özkiliç
 * Amanda Nunes
 * Andre Fili
 * Anthony Lapsley
 * Anthony Smith
 * Antonio Braga Neto
 * Ben Wall
 * Bethe Correia
 * Bobby Green
 * Bobby Voelker
 * Brandon Thatch
 * Brian Houston
 * Brian Melancon
 * Bristol Marunde
 * Bruno Santos
 * Bubba McDaniel
 * Caros Fodor
 * Cat Zingano
 * Chris Holdsworth
 * Clint Hester
 * Collin Hart
 * Conor McGregor
 * Daniel Cormier
 * Daniel Omielańczuk
 * Daniel Sarafian
 * Darrell Montague
 * Davey Grant
 * Drew Dober
 * Dustin Kimura
 * Dustin Ortiz
 * Dylan Andrews
 * Eddie Mendez
 * Elias Silvério
 * Estevan Payan
 * Francimar Barroso
 * Garett Whiteley
 * Gegard Mousasi
 * Germaine de Randamie
 * Gian Villante
 * Gilbert Melendez
 * Gilbert Smith


 * Godofredo Pepey
 * Hyun Gyu Lim
 * Igor Araújo
 * Ildemar Alcântara
 * Iliarde Santos
 * Ilir Latifi
 * Isaac Vallie-Flagg
 * Ivan Jorge
 * James Krause
 * James Vick
 * Jared Rosholt
 * Jessamyn Duke
 * Jesse Ronson
 * Jéssica Andrade
 * Jessica Eye
 * Jessica Rakoczy
 * Jimmy Quinlan
 * João Zeferino
 * Jon Manley
 * Jordan Mein
 * Jorge Masvidal
 * Jose Maria Tome
 * Josh Samman
 * Josh Sampo
 * Julianna Peña
 * Julie Kedzie
 * Junior Hernandez
 * Justin Scoggins
 * K. J. Noons
 * Kazuki Tokudome
 * Kelvin Gastelum
 * Kevin Casey
 * Kevin Souza
 * K. J. Noons
 * Krzysztof Jotko
 * Kurt Holobaugh
 * Kyoji Horiguchi
 * Kyung Ho Kang
 * Leandro Silva
 * Leonardo Santos
 * Liz Carmouche
 * Lorenz Larkin
 * Lucas Martins
 * Luke Barnatt
 * Luke Rockhold
 * Michel Prazeres
 * Miesha Tate
 * Mizuto Hirota
 * Nah-Shon Burrell


 * Nandor Guelmino
 * Neil Magny
 * Nico Musoke
 * Nikita Krylov
 * Omari Akhmedov
 * Ovince St. Preux
 * Pedro Nobre
 * Peggy Morgan
 * Piotr Hallmann
 * Quinn Mulhern
 * Rafael Cavalcante
 * Raquel Pennington
 * Richie Vaculik
 * Robert Whiteford
 * Roger Bowling
 * Roger Gracie
 * Roger Hollett
 * Ronaldo Souza
 * Ronda Rousey
 * Rosi Sexton
 * Roxanne Modafferi
 * Ryan Benoit
 * Ryan Couture
 * Ryan LaFlare
 * Santiago Ponzinibbio
 * Sara McMann
 * Sarah Kaufman
 * Sean Spencer
 * Sergio Pettis
 * Sheila Gaff
 * Thiago Santos
 * Tim Kennedy
 * Tom Niinimäki
 * Tor Troéng
 * Trevor Smith
 * Tyron Woodley
 * Uriah Hall
 * Viscardi Andrade
 * Walt Harris
 * William Macário
 * Wilson Reis
 * Yan Cabral
 * Yancy Medeiros
 * Yoel Romero
 * Yuri Villefort
 * Zach Makovsky
 * Zak Cummings

UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping
UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping (also known as UFC on FX 7) was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on January 19, 2013, at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil.

Background
The main fight featured middleweights Michael Bisping and Vitor Belfort. The event also held the first UFC fight for Daniel Sarafian, middleweight finalist on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil. Sarafian was injured before the championship fight with Cezar Ferreira, who went on to win the show.

Johnny Eduardo was briefly linked to a bout at this event against Iuri Alcântara, but was replaced by George Roop. Roop was then injured and replaced by UFC newcomer Pedro Nobre.

Thiago Perpetuo was expected to face Michael Kuiper at the event; however, Perpetuo suffered an injury and was replaced by Caio Magalhaes. On December 27, it was announced that Magalhaes had also pulled out of the bout and that Kuiper would be shifted to UFC on Fox 6 on January 26, 2013 to face Buddy Roberts.

Roger Hollett was expected to face Wagner Prado at the event; however, Hollett was forced out of the bout with a torn bicep and was replaced by promotional newcomer Ildemar Alcântara.

Bonus awards
Fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses.


 * Fight of the Night: C.B. Dollaway vs. Daniel Sarafian
 * Knockout of the Night: Vitor Belfort
 * Submission of the Night: Ildemar Alcântara

UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Melendez
UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Melendez (also known as UFC on Fox 7) was a mixed martial arts event held on April 20, 2013, at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The event was broadcast live on FOX.

Background
The event was headlined by a UFC Lightweight Championship bout between defending champion Benson Henderson and Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez. Also featured on the card was a bout between two time UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir and Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion Daniel Cormier.

Clay Guida was expected to face Chad Mendes at this event. However it was revealed on March 15 that Guida had pulled out of the bout citing an injury and was replaced by Darren Elkins.

Dan Hardy was expected to face Matt Brown at the event. However, Hardy was forced out of the bout due to medical issues regarding his heart and was replaced by Jordan Mein.

Francisco Rivera was expected to face Hugo Viana at the event. However, Rivera was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by T.J. Dillashaw.

A scheduled bout between Jon Tuck and Norman Parke was scrapped during the week leading up to the event, as Tuck was forced out of the bout with an injury.

Bonus Awards
Fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses.


 * Fight of the Night: Matt Brown vs. Jordan Mein
 * Knockout of the Night: Josh Thomson and Yoel Romero
 * Submission of the Night: None

Reported payout
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the California State Athletic Commission. It does not include sponsor money and also does not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses or Pay-Per-View quotas.
 * Benson Henderson: $200,000 (includes $100,000 win bonus) def. Gilbert Melendez: $175,000
 * Daniel Cormier: $126,000 (includes $63,000 win bonus) def. Frank Mir: $200,000
 * Josh Thomson: $95,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Nate Diaz: $15,000
 * Matt Brown: $60,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus) def. Jordan Mein: $16,000
 * Chad Mendes: $56,000 (includes $28,000 win bonus) def. Darren Elkins: $24,000
 * Francis Carmont: $38,000 (includes $19,000 win bonus) def. Lorenz Larkin: $23,000
 * Myles Jury: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Ramsey Nijem: $14,000
 * Joseph Benavidez: $66,000 (includes $33,000 win bonus) def. Darren Uyenoyama: $12,000
 * Jorge Masvidal: $60,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus) def. Tim Means: $10,000
 * T.J. Dillashaw: $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus) def. Hugo Viana: $8,000
 * Anthony Njokuani: $36,000 (includes $18,000 win bonus) def. Roger Bowling: $12,000
 * Yoel Romero: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Clifford Starks: $8,000