''UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Muhammad'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 187'', ''UFC on ESPN+ 45'' and ''UFC Vegas 21'') 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 March 13, 2021 at the
UFC Apex
UFC Apex (stylised as UFC APEX) is a live events and production center in Enterprise, Nevada, operated and owned by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The facility was chosen in part due to its close proximity to the UFC Performance Instit ...
facility in
Enterprise, Nevada
Enterprise is an Unincorporated towns in Nevada, unincorporated town in the Las Vegas Valley in Clark County, Nevada, United States. The population was 221,831 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, up from 14,676 at the United Stat ...
, part of the
Las Vegas Metropolitan Area
The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area is ...
, United States.
Background
A welterweight bout between
Leon Edwards
Leon Aaron Edwards (born 25 August 1991) is an English professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current UFC Welterweight Champion. A profe ...
and
Khamzat Chimaev
Khamzat Khizarovich Chimaev ( ce, Хизаран Хамзат; russian: Хамзат Хизарович Чимаев; born 1 May 1994), is a Swedish professional mixed martial artist and freestyle wrestler who competes in the Welterweight divi ...
was expected to serve as the main event.
The pairing has been scheduled as headliner and cancelled on two previous occasions due to
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
related issues affecting both fighters. First at
UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Neal in December 2020, and again at
UFC on ESPN: Chiesa vs. Magny in January 2021. On February 11, the fight was cancelled a third time as it was announced that Chimaev was still suffering from
lingering effects of COVID-19 and pulled out of the fight. Edwards faced
Belal Muhammad
Belal Muhammad (born July 9, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who is currently competing in the UFC welterweight division. A professional since 2012, he has also competed for Bellator and Titan FC. As of October 24, 2022, he is #4 ...
instead.
A bantamweight bout between
Irwin Rivera
Irwing "Irwin" Armando Rivera (born February 14, 1989) is a Mexican mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division of the Eagle Fighting Championship. A professional mixed martial artist since 2014, Rivera has competed for Combate ...
and Ray Rodriguez was scheduled for the event. However, on January 7, news surfaced that Rivera was arrested for two counts of
attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions.
Canada
Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seven ye ...
in
Palm Beach County, Florida
Palm Beach County is a county located in the southeastern part of Florida and lies directly north of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. The county had a population of 1,492,191 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous county ...
after he allegedly stabbed his two sisters. He is currently being held in the Palm Beach County jail without bail.
He was replaced by
Rani Yahya
Rani Ahmad Yahya (born September 12, 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and BJJ practitioner. He won the 66 kg division of the prestigious ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in April 2007. He currently fights in t ...
.
Tagir Ulanbekov
Tagir Radzhabovich Ulanbekov (russian: Тагир Раджабович Уланбеков; born July 8, 1991) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He i ...
and returning veteran
Matheus Nicolau
Matheus Nicolau Pereira (born January 6, 1993) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who is currently competing in the Flyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He has also competed in the Brave Combat Federation (Brave CF) ...
were expected to meet in a flyweight bout at
UFC 257
''UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 24, 2021 at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Background
Starting with ...
, but Ulanbekov withdrew in late December due to undisclosed reasons. The pairing was eventually rescheduled for this event.
[ ] However, Ulanbekov pulled out once again and was replaced by former
Rizin FF Bantamweight Champion Manel Kape
Manuel Pedro Gomes (born November 14, 1993) better known as Manel Kape, is an Angolan mixed martial artist currently competing as a flyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2012, he has formerly competed fo ...
.
[ ]
A heavyweight bout between
Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Jairzinho Rozenstruik (born 17 March 1988) is a Surinamese mixed martial artist and former kickboxer, who currently competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He currently holds the record for second fast ...
and
Ciryl Gane
Ciryl Jacky Gane (born 12 April 1990) is a French professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion. A professi ...
was originally scheduled for this event. However, they were moved to headline
UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gane after the original main event 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 ...
challenger
Dominick Reyes and former
Rizin Light Heavyweight Champion Jiří Procházka
Jiří Procházka (; ; born October 14, 1992) is a Czech mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. He was the i ...
was cancelled due to undisclosed reasons.
Guram Kutateladze was expected to face Don Madge in a lightweight bout at the event. However, Kutateladze pulled out in early February due to a knee injury. He was replaced by
Nasrat Haqparast
Nasrat Haqparast (born August 22, 1995) is a German mixed martial artist (MMA) who currently competes in the Lightweight division in the UFC.
Background
Haqparast was born in Germany to Afghan parents from Kandahar who came as refugees from ...
. In turn, Madge pulled out on March 6 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.
Haqparast eventually faced promotional newcomer
Rafa García.
The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber lightweight winner
Ryan Hall was expected to face
Dan Ige
Daniel Alexander Ige (born August 6, 1991) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in UFC's Featherweight division. A professional since 2014, he has also competed for the Legacy Fighting Championship, Pancrase, the RFA, and Tita ...
in a featherweight bout at the event. However, Hall pulled out of the fight on February 11 due to undisclosed reasons.
Ige faced
Gavin Tucker
Gavin Scott Tucker (born June 17, 1986) is a Canadian professional mixed martial artist. Tucker currently competes in the featherweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He had previously won the Extreme Cage Combat promotio ...
instead.
Misha Cirkunov
Mikhail Cirkunovs (born February 27, 1987), better known as Misha Cirkunov is a Latvian-Canadian, Latvian-born Canadian professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, who competed in the Light heavyweight (MMA), Light heavyweight division ...
was expected to face
Ryan Spann
Ryan Jamari Spann (born August 24, 1991) is an American mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2013, he has also fought for the Legacy Fight ...
in a light heavyweight bout at
UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Neal. However, Cirkunov pulled out due to an injury. The fight took place at this event.
Charles Jourdain
Charles Jourdain (born November 27, 1995) is a Canadian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter who is currently competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) Featherweight division. He was previously a TKO Major League MMA Double Champion, wi ...
was expected to face
Steve Garcia
Estevan "Steve" García Júnior (born May 22, 1992) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division of Ultimate Fighting Championship. Garcia competed in Bellator's bantamweight division.
Background
Inspired ...
in a featherweight bout at the event. However, Garcia withdrew from the fight for unknown reasons and was replaced by Marcelo Rojo.
A women's strawweight rematch between former
Invicta FC Strawweight Champion Angela Hill
Angela Patrice Hill (born January 12, 1985) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the strawweight division. She was formerly signed with the Invicta Fighting Championships, of which she was the strawweight champion. She is also ...
and
Ashley Yoder
Ashley Elizabeth Yoder (born October 20, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist and competes in Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Biography
Yoder was born on October 20, 1987 in Indianapolis, Indiana, United ...
was expected to take place at
UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gane. The two met before at
The Ultimate Fighter: Redemption Finale in July 2017, with Hill winning via unanimous decision. Their second meeting was postponed on the day of that event, as it was announced that one of Yoder's cornermen tested positive for COVID-19. The bout took place at this card.
A featherweight bout between
Ricardo Ramos and
Zubaira Tukhugov
Zubaira Alikhanovich Tukhugov (born January 15, 1991) is a Russian mixed martial artist who fights in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional MMA competitor since 2010, Tukhugov made a name for himsel ...
was expected to take place during the preliminary portion of the event. A week before the event, Tukhugov pulled out due to undisclosed reasons.
[ ] Promotion officials elected to remove Ramos from the card entirely and he will be rescheduled for a future event.
A heavyweight bout between
Ben Rothwell
Ben Rothwell (born October 17, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist who competes as a Heavyweight. He most notably had a 17 bout stint in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and competed for the Quad Cities Silverbacks of the IFL where he h ...
and
Philipe Lins
Luiz Philipe Lins Pimentel do Amaral (born August 17, 1985) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who competes in the light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He won the 2018 Professional Fighters League heavyweight tourna ...
was expected to take place at the event. However, during the week leading up to the event the bout was removed from the card due to undisclosed reasons. The pairing is expected to remain intact and rescheduled for
UFC on ESPN: Rodriguez vs. Waterson.
Results
Bonus awards
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.
*Fight of the Night: No bonus awarded.
*Performance of the Night: Ryan Spann, Dan Ige, Davey Grant and Matthew Semelsberger
See also
*
List of UFC events
This is a list of events held and scheduled by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. UFC's first event, UFC 1, took place on November 12, 1993. Each UFC event contains several fight ...
*
List of current UFC fighters
This list of current UFC fighters records current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters' information, country origins, recent fighter signings and departures, fight schedules and results and the champion of each division. , the UFC roster ...
*
2021 in UFC
References
{{2021 in mixed martial arts
UFC Fight Night
2021 in mixed martial arts
2021 in sports in Nevada
Mixed martial arts in Las Vegas
Sports competitions in Las Vegas
March 2021 sports events in the United States