''UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Teixeira'' was a planned

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

event produced by the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

originally planned to take place on April 25, 2020 at

Pinnacle Bank Arena Pinnacle Bank Arena is a 15,500-seat indoor arena in the West Haymarket District of Lincoln, Nebraska. It was completed in 2013 and replaced the Bob Devaney Sports Center as the home of the University of Nebraska's men's and women's basketball ...

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

, United States. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, UFC president

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who serves as president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at $500 milli ...

announced on April 9 that starting with

UFC 249 ''UFC 249: Ferguson vs. Gaethje'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on May 9, 2020 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It was originally planned to ...

, all future events were indefinitely postponed. The event was officially cancelled on April 20.

Background

A light heavyweight bout between former

UFC Light Heavyweight Championship Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

challengers Anthony Smith and

Glover Teixeira Glover Lucas Teixeira (; born 28 October 1979) is a Brazilian-American mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champi ...

was expected to serve as the event headliner. A lightweight bout between

Christos Giagos Christos Giagos (born January 23, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Giagos was born and raised in Southern California. Giagos co ...

and Alan Patrick was scheduled for the event. However, Giagos pulled out of the fight on March 19 citing injury and was replaced by

Frank Camacho Franklin Beldad Camacho (born May 18, 1989) is a Chamorro mixed martial artist in the lightweight division. He was a 2010 Blue Belt Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World champion and a 2006 Micronesian Games wrestling gold medalist. He competed in the Ultima ...

. A light heavyweight bout between former interim title challenger

Ovince Saint Preux Ovince Saint Preux (born April 8, 1983) is a Haitian-American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the light heavyweight division of the UFC. A professional competitor since 2008, Saint Preux has also formerly competed for Strikef ...

and

Shamil Gamzatov Shamil Radzhabovich Gamzatov (russian: Шамиль Раджабович Гамзатов; born August 9, 1990, in Dagestan) is a Russian mixed martial artist competing in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional since 2012, he has compe ...

was scheduled for the event. However, Gamzatov was forced to pull out of the event due to

travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries and regions imposed quarantines, entry bans, or other travel restrictions for citizens of or recent travelers to the most affected areas. Some countries and regions imposed global restrictions th ...

. He was replaced by

Ion Cuțelaba Ion Nicolae Cuțelaba (born 14 December 1993) is a Moldovan professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Born and raised in Chișinău, Cuțelaba began traini ...

. A heavyweight bout between Rodrigo Nascimento and Don’Tale Mayes was expected to take place at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Harris. However, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pairing was rescheduled for this event. Also due to travel restrictions, some Brazilian fighters were unable to compete due to

visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

issues on the original date – Ariane Carnelossi (who was expected to face

Mackenzie Dern Mackenzie Lynne Dern Santos (born March 24, 1993) is an American professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. She is a former world No. 1 ranked IBJJF competitor, currently ranked 6th among the female divisions. She is ...

in a women's strawweight bout) and

Raphael Pessoa Raphael Pessoa (born March 9, 1989) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight division of Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA). He also formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Mixed martial arts c ...

(who was expected to face Alexander Romanov in a heavyweight bout). Carnelossi was replaced by

Hannah Cifers Hannah Lucinda Cifers (born June 26, 1992) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the strawweight division. She formerly fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Mixed martial arts career Early career Cifers made he ...

Cancelled fight card

References

{{2020 in mixed martial arts UFC Fight Night Mixed martial arts in Nebraska Sports in Lincoln, Nebraska April 2020 sports events in the United States 2020 in mixed martial arts 2020 in sports in Nebraska Cancelled Ultimate Fighting Championship events

UFC Fight Night The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Background

Cancelled fight card

See also

References