''UFC on ESPN: Font vs. Aldo'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 31'' and ''UFC Vegas 44'') 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 4, 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 bantamweight bout between

Rob Font Rob Font (born June 25, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2011, Font formerly competed for CES M ...

and former WEC and two-time

UFC Featherweight 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 ...

José Aldo José Aldo da Silva Oliveira Júniorhttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/CI3oOc0VAAAr_iv.jpg (, born 9 September 1986), commonly anglicized as Jose Aldo, is a retired Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He last competed in the Ultimate Fight ...

served as the event headliner.

Jimmy Crute Jimmy Crute (born 4 March 1996) is an Australian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Crute was the former Australian Hex Fight Series Light Heav ...

and

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 ...

were expected to meet in a light heavyweight bout at UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Walker, but they were eventually rescheduled for this event. A heavyweight bout between

Tanner Boser Tanner Vilbon Nicholas Boser (born August 2, 1991) is a Canadian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter who is currently signed to the UFC Ultimate Fighting Championship Heavyweight division. He had previously competed for Unified MMA, where he won the ...

and

Sergei Pavlovich Sergei Vladimirovich Pavlovich (born 13 May 1992) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist. He was the former Fight Nights Global heavyweight champion and currently competes in the Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship ...

was scheduled for this event. However, the bout was scrapped due to travel issues. A middleweight bout between

Maki Pitolo Maki Ikaika Maleko Pitolo (born November 24, 1990) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Middleweight division. A professional mixed martial artist since 2013, Pitolo has also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and B ...

and

Duško Todorović Duško Todorović (born May 19, 1994) is a Serbian mixed martial artist who competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Todorović started training taekwondo around the age of eight, continuing u ...

took place at the event. They were originally scheduled for UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Sakai, but Pitolo pulled out due to undisclosed reasons. A women's strawweight bout featuring

Montserrat Ruiz Avelina Montserrat Conejo Ruiz (born February 3, 1993) is a Mexican female mixed martial artist who competes in the Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background At the age of 16, Ruiz started practicing Olympic wrestlin ...

and

Mallory Martin Mallory Brooke Martin (born January 29, 1994) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Strawweight division. Martin also competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Invicta Fighting Championships (Invicta). Mixed mar ...

was expected to take place at the event. However, Ruiz pulled out due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by

Cheyanne Vlismas Cheyanne Nicolae Vlismas (born June 25, 1995) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Vlismas began training in karate when she was three years old and then ...

Brad Tavares Bradley Kaipo Sarbida Tavares (born December 21, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. Tavares currently competes in the middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2007, Tavares foug ...

was expected to face

Brendan Allen Brendan Allen (born December 28, 1995) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 2015, he has also competed for the Legacy Fighting Alliance w ...

in a middleweight bout. He eventually pulled out in mid November and was replaced by

Roman Dolidze Roman Dolidze (born July 15, 1988) is a Georgian mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2016, Dolidze was the former World Warriors Figh ...

. In turn, Dolidze was forced to pull out due to complications in his recovery from

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 ...

and was replaced by

Chris Curtis Chris Curtis (born Christopher Crummey; 26 August 1941 – 28 February 2005) was an English drummer and singer who was best known for being with the 1960s Beat music, beat band The Searchers (band), The Searchers. He originated the concept be ...

. A light heavyweight bout between William Knight and

Alonzo Menifield Alonzo Menifield (born October 18, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2015, he has formerly fought in Bellator and the ...

took place at this event. They were previously expected to meet at UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gane and

UFC 260 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 ...

, but the contest was cancelled both times due to positive COVID-19 tests from Menifield and Knight, respectively. A welterweight bout between Matt Brown and

Bryan Barberena Bryan Paul Barberena (born May 3, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist currently fighting in the Welterweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2009, he has also competed for King of the Cage. B ...

was scheduled for the event. However on November 23, Brown was removed from the contest due to testing positive for COVID-19. He was replaced by Darian Weeks.

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 face Azamat Murzakanov in a light heavyweight bout at the event. However, Lins withdrew from the event due to undisclosed reasons and he was replaced by

Jared Vanderaa Jared Vanderaa (born May 12, 1992) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Vanderaa was born in Washington but moved around a lot with his mother in pursuit of ...

, therefore changing the bout to heavyweight. Shortly after the weigh-ins, officials had announced that the bout had been cancelled due to Vanderaa not being medically cleared. A welterweight bout between Jake Matthews and

Jeremiah Wells Jeremiah Wells (born October 30, 1986) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Wells was born in 1986 in West Hazelton, Pennsylvania, a city of about 25,000, ...

was expected to take place at the event. However, just hours before taking place, the bout was cancelled after one of Wells' cornermen tested positive for COVID-19.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. * Fight of the Night: Cheyanne Vlismas vs. Mallory Martin * Performance of the Night: Rafael Fiziev, Jamahal Hill, Clay Guida, and Chris Curtis

References

{{2021 in mixed martial arts UFC on ESPN 2021 in mixed martial arts December 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