''UFC on ESPN: Hermansson vs. Vettori'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 19'' and ''UFC Vegas 16'') 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 December 5, 2020 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
The promotion was targeting a middleweight bout between former
UFC Welterweight 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
Darren Till
Darren Till (born 24 December 1992) is an English professional mixed martial artist and former Muay Thai fighter. He currently competes in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of December 13, 2022, he is # ...
and
Jack Hermansson to serve as the event headliner. However, it was revealed on November 6 that Till was forced to withdraw from the planned bout due to an undisclosed injury. He was replaced by
Kevin Holland
Kevin Alan Holland (born November 5, 1992) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the welterweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2015, Holland has also competed for ...
.
In turn, Holland was removed from the contest on November 28 after testing positive for COVID-19.
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 ...
, who was expected to face former
Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Ronaldo Souza
Ronaldo Souza dos Santos (born December 7, 1979), nicknamed " Jacare" (), is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist and submission grappler who competed for UFC from 2013 to 2021. A highly regarded grappler on the worl ...
a week later at
UFC 256
''UFC 256: Figueiredo vs. Moreno'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 12, 2020 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United ...
, served as his replacement.
The UFC also opted to reschedule Holland as Vettori's replacement at UFC 256.
John Allan and
Roman Dolidze were originally scheduled to meet at
UFC 255
''UFC 255: Figueiredo vs. Perez'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 21, 2020 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United ...
in a light heavyweight bout. They were eventually rescheduled for this event.
[ ]
A bantamweight bout between
Cody Stamann
Cody James Stamann (born November 9, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist and currently competing in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Background
Stamann was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and attended Grand ...
and
Merab Dvalishvili
Merab Dvalishvili (born January 10, 1991) is a Georgian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of March 13, 2023, he is #1 in the UFC bantamweight ra ...
was expected to take place at this event. However, it was announced on October 22 that Stamann pulled out due to undisclosed reasons.
[ ] He was replaced by
Raoni Barcelos. The new booking fell through on November 19, as it was revealed that Barcelos was removed from the contest due to a medical suspension related to his latest bout at
UFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Teixeira.
A featherweight bout between
Gabriel Benítez
Gabriel Apolinar Benítez (born June 15, 1988) is a Mexican mixed martial artist. He was a contestant on '' The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America 1'', and he competes in the featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Ba ...
and
Justin Jaynes was initially scheduled for
UFC Fight Night: Felder vs. dos Anjos a month earlier, but the pairing was postponed after Benítez
tested positive for COVID-19. The matchup was left intact and took place at this event.
Also scheduled for UFC Fight Night: Felder vs. dos Anjos, a bantamweight bout between
Louis Smolka
Louis Smolka (born July 16, 1991) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2010, he has previously fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, California Xtreme Fighting, Kin ...
and
José Alberto Quiñónez
José Alberto Quiñónez Navarro (born July 28, 1990) is a Mexican mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division. He was one of the cast members in The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America 1, The Ultimate Fighter UFC TV reality show ...
was cancelled after Smolka pulled out of their fight as a result of ill-effects from his weight cut on the day of the event. They were then rescheduled for this event.
Maryna Moroz
Maryna Moroz (Ukrainian: Марина Мороз; born September 8, 1991) is a Ukrainian professional mixed martial artist, signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she competes in the Women's Flyweight division. Moroz is also ...
was expected to face
Taila Santos
Taila Santos (born June 22, 1993) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of June 13, 2022, she is #2 in the UFC women's flyweight rankings, and as of November 15, 202 ...
in a women's flyweight bout at this event. However, it was announced on November 18 that Moroz had to pull out and
Montana De La Rosa would be her replacement.
Just hours before the event, the UFC decided to remove the fight after one of De La Rosa's cornermen tested positive for COVID-19. Santos was then rescheduled to face
Gillian Robertson
Gillian Elizabeth Robertson (born May 17, 1995) is a Canadian mixed martial artist (MMA). She currently competes in the Flyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Background
Robertson was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Can ...
two weeks later at
UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Neal.
A women's bantamweight bout between former
UFC Women's Bantamweight 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
Bethe Correia and
Wu Yanan was expected to take place at this event. However, 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, they were rescheduled for
UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Kattar on January 16, 2021.
At the weigh-ins, former interim
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
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 ...
weighed in at 207.5 pounds, one and a half pounds over the light heavyweight non-title fight limit. His bout proceeded at a catchweight and he was fined 20% of his individual purse, which went to his opponent
Jamahal Hill
Jamahal Hill (born May 19, 1991) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of December 6, 2022, he is #7 in the UFC light heavyweight ...
.
Along with the cancellation of the De La Rosa/Santos bout, two other fights were also removed from the event – a featherweight bout between
Nate Landwehr
Nathan Wade Landwehr (born June 7, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional mixed martial artist since 2012, he is also a former M-1 Global Feather ...
and
Movsar Evloev
Movsar Evloev (born February 11, 1994) is a Russian mixed martial artist, who is currently competing in the featherweight division of the UFC. A professional since 2014, he has also competed at M-1 Global, where he is the former bantamweight ch ...
, as well as a flyweight bout between
Cody Durden and Jimmy Flick. The former was due to Evloev testing positive for COVID-19. The latter was due to a non-COVID related medical issue with Durden, before being rescheduled for UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Neal.
Results
Bonus awards
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.
*Fight of the Night: Marvin Vettori vs. Jack Hermansson
*Performance of the Night: Gabriel Benítez and Jordan Leavitt
See also
*
List of UFC events
*
List of current UFC fighters
*
2020 in UFC
References
{{2020 in mixed martial arts
UFC on ESPN
2020 in mixed martial arts
December 2020 sports events in the United States
2020 in sports in Nevada
Mixed martial arts in Las Vegas
Sports competitions in Las Vegas