''UFC Fight Night: Yusuff vs. Barboza'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 230,'' ''UFC on ESPN+ 88,'' and ''UFC Vegas 81'') 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 14, 2023, 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 i ...

, United States.

Background

A featherweight bout between

Sodiq Yusuff Sodiq Olamide Yusuff (born May 19, 1993) is a Nigerian–American mixed martial artist who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the Featherweight division. As of December 13, 2022, he is #12 in the UFC featherweight rankings. ...

and

Edson Barboza Edson Barboza Jr. (born January 21, 1986) is a Brazilian-American professional mixed martial artist and former Muay Thai kickboxer who competes in the featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and has formerly competed at ligh ...

headlined the event. They were previously expected to meet at UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen in October 2020, but Yusuff pulled out due to undisclosed reasons. A bantamweight bout between Cameron Saaiman and Christian Rodriguez took place at the event. The pairing was previously scheduled to meet at UFC 290 in July, but Rodriguez pulled out due to injury. At the weigh-ins, Rodriguez weighed in at 140 pounds, four pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit. Their bout proceeded at catchweight and he was fined a percentage of his purse, which went to Saaiman. A women's bantamweight bout between Tainara Lisboa and Darya Zheleznyakova was scheduled for the event. However, Zheleznyakova was removed due to undisclosed reasons and replaced by Ravena Oliveira. A flyweight bout between Tatsuro Taira and

David Dvořák David Dvořák (born June 5, 1992) is a Czech mixed martial artist. A professional since 2010, he currently competes in the Flyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of December 19, 2022, he is #10 in the UFC flyweight ...

was expected to take place at the event. However, the bout was cancelled for unknown reasons. A middleweight bout between

Michel Pereira Michel Pereira (born 6 October 1993) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing as a Welterweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2011, he formerly competed for 300 Sparta, Akhmat Fight Club, ...

and

Marc-André Barriault Marc-André Barriault (born February 18, 1990) is a Canadian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter who is currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) Middleweight division. He previously competed with TKO Major League MMA where he w ...

was expected to take place at the event. However, Barriault withdrew due to medical issues and was replaced by

Andre Petroski Andre Petroski (born June 12, 1991) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Having wrestled since he was four years old, Petroski was a three-time state quali ...

. A lightweight bout between

Terrance McKinney Terrance Kitarius McKinney (born September 15, 1994) is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2017, McKinney also compet ...

and Chris Duncan was expected to take place at the event. However, Duncan withdrew due to visa issues and was replaced by promotional newcomer Brendon Marotte. A flyweight rematch between Edgar Chairez and Daniel Lacerda was scheduled for the event. Their first meeting was ruled a no contest after referee Chris Tognoni mistakenly thought Lacerda was put to sleep from Chairez's standing guillotine at UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2. However, due to Lacerda's medical issues, the bout was cancelled.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. *Fight of the Night: Edson Barboza vs. Sodiq Yusuff *Performance of the Night: Jonathan Martinez and Michel Pereira

References

{{2023 in mixed martial arts UFC Fight Night 2023 in mixed martial arts September 2023 sports events in the United States 2023 in sports in Nevada Events in Enterprise, Nevada

Background

Results

Bonus awards

See also

References