''UFC Fight Night: Costa vs. Vettori'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 196'', ''UFC Vegas 41'' and ''UFC on ESPN+ 54'') 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 23, 2021 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, 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 middleweight bout between former

UFC Middleweight 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 ...

title challengers

Paulo Costa Paulo Henrique Costa (born 21 April 1991) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of August 1, 2022, he is #6 in the UFC middleweight ...

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 ...

headlined the event. In the days leading up to the event, the bout was shifted to a catchweight of 195 lbs and then ultimately to light heavyweight due to weight cut issues with Costa. As a result, he forfeited 20% of his fight purse to Vettori. Aaron Phillips and Kris Moutinho was scheduled for the bantamweight bout at the event. However in mid-September, Moutinho was removed from the bout for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Jonathan Martinez. In turn, Philips withdrew from the bout due to illness. On three days notice, promotional newcomer Zviad Lazishvili stepped in as a replacement. A welterweight bout between

Dwight Grant Dwight Lamont Grant (born September 14, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist (MMA) who competes in the welterweight division. He had previously fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Born and raised in the Bedfor ...

and Gabriel Green was briefly linked to the event. However, Green was removed from the contest in late September due to undisclosed reasons and replaced by

Francisco Trinaldo Francisco Trinaldo Soares da Rocha (; born August 24, 1978) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 2006, he has also competed for Jungle Fight in h ...

. A middleweight bout between

Jamie Pickett Jamie Russell Pickett (born August 29, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Pickett lived with his grandparents growing up in Chinquapin, North Caro ...

and Laureano Staropoli was originally expected to take place at UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Rodriguez, but it was moved to this event after one of Pickett's coaches tested positive for COVID-19. A lightweight rematch between Alan Patrick and Mason Jones was expected to take place at the event. The pairing previously met at UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Sakai, which ended in a no contest when an accidental eye poke rendered Patrick unable to continue. However in late October, Patrick withdrew from bout and he was replaced by newcomer David Onama.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. * Fight of the Night: Gregory Rodrigues vs. Jun Yong Park * Performance of the Night: Marvin Vettori and Alex Caceres

References

{{2021 in mixed martial arts UFC Fight Night 2021 in mixed martial arts October 2021 sports events in the United States 2021 in sports in Nevada Mixed martial arts in Las Vegas Sports competitions in Las Vegas

Background

Results

Bonus awards

See also

References