''UFC Fight Night: Joanna vs. Waterson'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 161'' or '' UFC on ESPN+ 19'') was a

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 ...

that took place on October 12, 2019 at

Amalie Arena Amalie Arena (officially stylized as AMALIE Arena) is a multipurpose arena in Tampa, Florida, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, arena football, concerts, and other events. It is mainly used as the home for the Tampa Bay Lightning ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

Background

While not officially announced by the organization, the event was initially linked to the newly constructed

Chase Center Chase Center is an indoor arena in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The building is the home venue for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and occasionally for the University of San ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, which would have marked the promotion's first visit to the city. It would have also been the first trip to the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

since

UFC 117 ''UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 7, 2010 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, United States. Background UFC President Dana White announced via ESPN on Jim Ro ...

in 2010. However, the plans for a San Francisco debut fizzled and the promotion confirmed that the event would instead take place in Tampa, Florida. The event marked the promotion's third visit to Tampa and its second visit to Amalie Arena, following UFC on Fox: Teixeira vs. Evans in April of 2016. A women's strawweight bout between former

UFC Women's Strawweight Champion 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 ...

Joanna Jędrzejczyk Joanna Jędrzejczyk (; born August 18, 1987) is a Polish former professional mixed martial artist and Muay Thai kickboxer. She has been called the greatest female strawweight mixed martial artist of all time, including by Daniel Cormier, who cred ...

and former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion

Michelle Waterson Michelle Eileen Waterson (born January 6, 1986) is an American mixed martial artist and model who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). She is the former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion. Between 2013 and 2014, she was ranked the ...

served as the event headliner. A middleweight bout between The Ultimate Fighter: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia light heavyweight winner

Andrew Sanchez Andrew William Sanchez (born April 8, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2012, he has formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship ...

and

Marvin Vettori Marvin Vettori (born September 20, 1993) is an Italian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2012, Vettori is a former Venator FC Wel ...

was originally scheduled for September 14 at UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Gaethje. However, the bout was canceled after Sanchez was pulled during the week leading up to the event due to an eye infection. In turn, the pairing was left intact and rescheduled for this event. Promotional newcomer Brok Weaver was scheduled to face Thomas Gifford in a lightweight out at the event. However, Weaver pulled out of the bout on October 6 for undisclosed reasons. He was replaced by Mike Davis.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. *Fight of the Night: Cub Swanson vs. Kron Gracie *Performance of the Night: Niko Price and Marlon Vera

References

{{2019 in mixed martial arts UFC Fight Night 2019 in mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts in Florida Sports competitions in Tampa, Florida Events in Tampa, Florida

Background

Results

Bonus awards

See also

References