''UFC on ESPN: Blaydes vs. Volkov'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 11'' and ''UFC Vegas 3'') 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 June 20, 2020 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

The event was initially scheduled to take place at the

SaskTel Centre SaskTel Centre (formerly Credit Union Centre, and originally Saskatchewan Place; informally also known as ''Sask Place'') is an arena located in the Agriplace Industrial Park, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. With 15,195 permanent stadium seats ...

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, Canada. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, UFC president

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who serves as president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at $500 milli ...

announced on April 9 that starting with

UFC 249 ''UFC 249: Ferguson vs. Gaethje'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on May 9, 2020 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It was originally planned to ...

, all future events were indefinitely postponed. The event would have marked the promotion's second visit to Saskatoon, following UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Oliveira in August 2015. On May 21, the UFC announced the cancelation of the event in Canada. A heavyweight bout between

Curtis Blaydes Curtis Lionell Blaydes (born February 18, 1991) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight (MMA), Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2014, Blayde ...

and former

Bellator Heavyweight Champion Bellator MMA (formerly known as "Bellator Fighting Championships") is an American mixed martial arts promotion, and the following is a history of its champions in each weight class. At the time of its inception in 2008, CEO Bjorn Rebney founded ...

Alexander Volkov served as the event headliner. A welterweight bout between former

Bellator Welterweight Champion Bellator MMA (formerly known as "Bellator Fighting Championships") is an American mixed martial arts promotion, and the following is a history of its champions in each weight class. At the time of its inception in 2008, CEO Bjorn Rebney founded ...

Lyman Good Lyman Merrill Good (born May 26, 1985), also known as "American Cyborg", is an American mixed martial artist. He is perhaps best known for his time spent with Bellator, where he was the inaugural Bellator Welterweight Champion. Good currently co ...

and

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 in ...

was previously expected to take place at

UFC 205 ''UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor'' was a mixed martial arts event promoted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on November 12, 2016, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. In what was described by UFC president Dana White as ...

in November 2016, but Good was pulled from that event after being notified by the

United States Anti-Doping Agency The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti- doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent ...

(USADA) due to a potential anti-doping violation stemming from an out-of-competition drug test. The matchup was once again booked for UFC 249 in April 2020, but Good pulled out due to testing positive for COVID-19, being the first fighter to publicly acknowledge the fact. They ultimately met at this event instead.

Joe Solecki Joseph Anthony Solecki (born August 27, 1993) is an American professional mixed martial artist. Solecki currently competes in the Lightweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Solecki began training Brazilian Ji ...

was expected to face

Austin Hubbard Austin Steven Phillip Hubbard (born December 22, 1991) is an American mixed martial artist. A professional since 2015, he has competed for the Legacy Fighting Alliance, where he is the former Lightweight Champion and competed in the Lightweight d ...

at the event. However, Solecki was removed from the pairing on June 13 for undisclosed reasons. He was replaced by promotional newcomer Max Rohskopf.

Matt Frevola Matthew Kenneth Frevola (born June 11, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2014, he has also competed for th ...

was scheduled to face

Frank Camacho Franklin Beldad Camacho (born May 18, 1989) is a Chamorro mixed martial artist in the lightweight division. He was a 2010 Blue Belt Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World champion and a 2006 Micronesian Games wrestling gold medalist. He competed in the Ultima ...

at the event. However, Frevola was pulled from the fight during the week leading up to the event after teammate and

cornerman In combat sports, a cornerman, or second, is a coach or trainer assisting a fighter during a bout. The cornerman is forbidden to instruct and must remain outside the combat area during the round. In the break, they are permitted to enter the ri ...

Billy Quarantillo Billy Quarantillo (born December 8, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the former King of the Cage Lightweight Champion. Mixed martial arts ...

, tested positive for COVID-19. Despite two negative tests, Frevola was removed from the bout in an abundance of caution. Promotional newcomer

Justin Jaynes Justin Michael Jaynes (born August 10, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight and Lightweight divisions. A professional since 2008, he most notably competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He i ...

was tabbed as a replacement to face Camacho. At the weigh-ins,

weighed in at 158 pounds, two pounds over the lightweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at a catchweight and Camacho was fined 20% of his purse, which went to his opponent Justin Jaynes.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. *Fight of the Night: Josh Emmett vs. Shane Burgos *Performance of the Night: Jim Miller and Justin Jaynes

Reported payout

The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the

Nevada State Athletic Commission The Nevada State Athletic Commission (also known as the Nevada Athletic Commission or NSAC) regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of Nevada, including licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers, kickboxers, ...

(NSAC). It does not include sponsor money and also does not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses. The total disclosed payout for the event was $1,655,000. * Curtis Blaydes: $180,000 (includes $90,000 win bonus) def. Alexander Volkov: $80,000 * Josh Emmett: $152,000 (includes $76,000 win bonus) def. Shane Burgos: $75,000 * Raquel Pennington: $126,000 (includes $63,000 win bonus) def. Marion Reneau: $38,000 * Belal Muhammad: $100,000 (includes $50,000 win bonus) def. Lyman Good: $28,000 * Jim Miller: $208,000 (includes $104,000 win bonus) def. Roosevelt Roberts: $25,000 * Bobby Green: $72,000 (includes $36,000 win bonus) def. Clay Guida: $73,000 * Tecia Torres: $96,000 (includes $48,000 win bonus) def. Brianna Van Buren: $14,000 * Marc-André Barriault: $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus) def. Oskar Piechota: $20,000 * Gillian Robertson: $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus) def. Cortney Casey: $53,000 * Justin Jaynes: $29,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Frank Camacho: $20,000 ^ * Lauren Murphy: $76,000 (includes $38,000 win bonus) def. Roxanne Modafferi: $50,000 * Austin Hubbard: $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus) def. Max Rohskopf: $12,000 ^ ''Camacho ($5,000) was fined 20% of his purse for failing to make the required weight limit for his fight. That money was issued to his opponent, a NSAC official confirmed.''

Aftermath

On August 5, it was announced that the NSAC issued a temporary suspension for

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 ...

, after he tested positive for

ostarine Enobosarm, also known as ostarine or MK-2866, is an investigational selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) developed by GTx, Inc. for the treatment of conditions such as muscle wasting and osteoporosis, formerly under development by Merc ...

in his drug test associated with the event. The suspension would hold until a full disciplinary hearing at the next NSAC meeting, expected to take place in September. Four months later, Barriault was officially suspended for nine months retroactive to the date of the fight, with the result of the bout being overturned to a no contest due to the violation. He was fined $2,100 and before he is re-licensed in Las Vegas, Barriault will also have to pay a prosecution fee of $254.38.

References