''UFC on Fox: Emmett vs. Stephens'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 28'') 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 ...
held on February 24, 2018, at
Amway Center
Amway Center is an indoor arena located in Downtown Orlando, Florida. The arena is home to the Orlando Magic of the NBA, the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL, and the Orlando Predators of the National Arena League.
Amway Center hosted the 2012 N ...
in
Orlando, Florida
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
, United States.
Background
The event marked the promotion's third visit to Orlando, and first since
UFC on Fox: dos Anjos vs. Cowboy 2 in December 2015.
The event was headlined by a featherweight bout between
Josh Emmett
Joshua James Emmett (born March 4, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist. Emmett currently competes in the featherweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2011, Emmett has also ...
and
Jeremy Stephens
Jeremy Stephens (born May 26, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division of Professional Fighters League (PFL). A professional since 2005, he spent 15 years and competed in 33 bouts in the UFC ...
.
Jéssica Andrade
Jéssica Fernanda da Costa Andrade (born September 25, 1991) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. Andrade is currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she competes in the women's Flyweight division and is a ...
and
Karolina Kowalkiewicz
Karolina Kowalkiewicz (born 15 October 1985) is a Polish mixed martial artist. She currently fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). She is the former Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki#Women's Strawweight Championship, KSW Women's Flyweight ...
were expected to face in each other in a bout of former
UFC Women's Strawweight 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 ...
challengers. However, on December 27, it was announced that
Tecia Torres
Tecia Lyn Torres Moncaio (born August 16, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist who is currently competing in the strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of October 24, 2022, she is #8 in the UFC women's straww ...
would be Andrade's opponent instead.
Jake Collier
Jake Collier (born October 23, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Background
With no background in sports, Collier started Brazilian jiu-jitsu to lose weight ...
was expected to face promotional newcomer
Marcin Prachnio
Marcin Prachnio (born July 14, 1988) is a Polish mixed martial artist currently competing in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional mixed martial artist since 2013, Prachnio has also competed in ONE C ...
at the event. However, Collier pulled out of the fight in early January citing injury. Prachnio faced
Sam Alvey
Samuel William Alvey (born May 6, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist, who competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional MMA competitor since 2008, Alvey has also formerly com ...
.
Current
Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion Yana Kunitskaya
Iana "Yana" Kunitskaya (born November 11, 1989) is a Russian mixed martial artist competing in the bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of September 19, 2022, she is #6 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings.
...
was expected to face
2004 Olympic silver medalist in wrestling and 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
Sara McMann
Sara McMann (born September 24, 1980) is an American female mixed martial artist who competed in the bantamweight division. McMann is a former Olympic wrestler and received a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece and was a ...
at the event. However, on January 10, it was announced that McMann would face
Marion Reneau
Marion Elizabeth Reneau-Perez (born June 20, 1977) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist who competed as a Bantamweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Mixed martial arts career
Reneau began her professional mixed martia ...
instead, after Reneau's original opponent former
Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion and
UFC Women's Featherweight 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
Tonya Evinger
Tonya Evinger (born June 4, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist. A professional mixed martial artist since 2006, Evinger has previously competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), EliteXC, Raging Wolf and Invicta Fighting Champi ...
pulled out of their scheduled bout a week earlier at
UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Medeiros.
Former middleweight interim title challenger (as well as
2000 Olympic silver medalist and former world champion in
freestyle wrestling
Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling ...
)
Yoel Romero
Yoel Romero Palacio (born April 30, 1977) is a Cuban professional mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division for Bellator MMA. Romero formerly competed in the Middleweight division ...
was expected to face former
WSOF Middleweight and
Light Heavyweight Champion David Branch at the event. However, on January 13, it was announced that current
UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker pulled out of his title defense against former
Strikeforce
Strike Force may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game
*'' Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game
*'' Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game
*''Marvel Strike Force'', ...
and UFC Middleweight Champion
Luke Rockhold
Luke Skyler Rockhold (born October 17, 1984) is an American retired mixed martial artist. He is best known for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he competed in the Light Heavyweight and Middleweight division. ...
at
UFC 221
''UFC 221: Romero vs. Rockhold'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on February 11, 2018, at Perth Arena in Perth, Western Australia.
Background
While the UFC has hosted 11 previous events ...
due to injury and was replaced by Romero. Due to that change, Branch was rescheduled for a future event.
Ilir Latifi
Ilir Latifi (born July 28, 1983) is a Swedish mixed martial artist who previously fought in the Heavyweight division of the UFC. A two-time national wrestling champion and a professional MMA competitor since 2008, Latifi has also competed in Sha ...
was expected to face 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 ...
at
UFC on Fox: Jacaré vs. Brunson 2. However, on January 16, Latifi pulled out due to injury and the bout was scrapped. The pairing was then rescheduled for this event.
Gadzhimurad Antigulov
Gadzhimurad Antigulov (born January 1, 1987) is a Russian mixed martial artist who currently competing in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional since 2009, he has fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), M-1 Global, and Abso ...
was expected to face
Aleksandar Rakić
Aleksandar Rakić (born February 6, 1992) is an Austrian mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2011, Rakić has also competed for the Fina ...
at the event. However, Antigulov pulled out of the fight on February 7, and the bout was scrapped.
On February 21, it was announced that a lightweight bout between
Gilbert Burns
Gilbert Alexander Pontes Burns (born 20 July 1986) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and submission grappler. He currently competes in the Welterweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As a grappler, Burns ...
and
Olivier Aubin-Mercier
Olivier Aubin-Mercier (; born February 23, 1989) is a Canadian mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division of the Professional Fighters League. He formerly competed for the UFC until October 2019 when he became a free agent. A pr ...
was pulled from the event after the medical team deemed unsafe for Burns to cut the necessary weight for the 156-pound limit.
At the weigh-ins,
Alex Perez weighed in at 126.5 pounds, a half pound over the flyweight non-title fight upper limit of 126 pounds. As a result, the bout proceeded at catchweight and Perez was fined 20% of his purse which went to his opponent
Eric Shelton.
Results
Bonus awards
The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses:
*Fight of the Night: Alan Jouban vs. Ben Saunders
*Performance of the Night: Jeremy Stephens and Ilir Latifi
Reported payout
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the Florida State Boxing Commission. 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 $1,173,000.
* Jeremy Stephens: $126,000 (includes $63,000 win bonus) def. Josh Emmett: $45,000
* Jéssica Andrade: $96,000 (includes $48,000 win bonus) def. Tecia Torres: $36,000
* Ilir Latifi: $66,000 (includes $33,000 win bonus) def. Ovince Saint Preux: $86,000
* Max Griffin: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Mike Perry: $40,000
* Brian Kelleher: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus) def. Renan Barão: $53,000
* Marion Reneau: $56,000 (includes $28,000 win bonus) def. Sara McMann: $38,000
* Angela Hill: $42,000 (includes $21,000 win bonus) def. Maryna Moroz: $23,000
* Alan Jouban: $80,000 (includes $40,000 win bonus) def. Ben Saunders: $23,000
* Sam Alvey: $92,000 (includes $46,000 win bonus) def. Marcin Prachnio: $25,000
* Rani Yahya: $92,000 (includes $46,000 win bonus) def. Russell Doane: $22,000
* Alex Perez: $21,600 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Eric Shelton: $14,400 ^
* Manny Bermudez: $20,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus) def. Albert Morales: $15,000
^ ''Perez was fined $2,400, 20 percent of his purse for failing to make the required weight for his fight with Eric Shelton.''
See also
*
List of UFC events
This is a list of events held and scheduled by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. UFC's first event, UFC 1, took place on November 12, 1993. Each UFC event contains several fight ...
*
2018 in UFC
The year 2018 is the 26th year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States and founded in November 1993. This year, the UFC celebrated its 25th anniversary, and an annivers ...
References
{{2018 in mixed martial arts
Fox UFC
Events in Orlando, Florida
Mixed martial arts in Florida
Sports competitions in Orlando, Florida
2018 in mixed martial arts
February 2018 sports events in the United States