''UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Gaethje'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 158'' or ''UFC on ESPN+ 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 September 14, 2019 at

Rogers Arena Rogers Arena is a multi-purpose arena located at 800 Griffiths Way in the downtown area of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Opened in 1995, the arena was known as General Motors Place (GM Place) from its opening until July 6, 2010, when Ge ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada.

Background

A lightweight bout between former

UFC Lightweight 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

Donald Cerrone Donald Cerrone (born March 29, 1983), known professionally by his nickname "Cowboy", is an American retired mixed martial artist, actor, and former professional kickboxer. He competed in the Lightweight and Welterweight division for the Ultimat ...

and former WSOF Lightweight Champion

Justin Gaethje Justin Ray Gaethje (; born November 14, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a former Interim UFC Lightweight Champion. As o ...

served as the event's headliner. A middleweight bout between former WSOF Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Champion David Branch and The Ultimate Fighter: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia light heavyweight winner

Andrew Sanchez Andrew William Sanchez (born April 8, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2012, he has formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship ...

was scheduled for the event. However, it was reported that Branch was forced to pull out of the event due to injury and was replaced by

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 ...

. In turn, it was reported that Sanchez was forced to pull out of the event due to an eye infection, resulting in cancellation of the bout. In turn, the pairing was left intact and was rescheduled a month later at UFC Fight Night: Joanna vs. Waterson. A welterweight 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

Sergey Khandozhko Sergey Khandozhko (born May 19, 1992) is a retired Russian male mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background While in the first grade, his parents signed Sergey to the sambo/judo ...

was scheduled for the event. However, it was reported that Khandozhko was removed from the card 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. He was replaced by promotional newcomer

Tristan Connelly Tristan Connelly (born December 12, 1985) is a Canadian mixed martial arts fighter who formerly competed in the featherweight division of the UFC and had previously won the Cage Sports Lightweight Championship, Unified MMA Lightweight Championshi ...

. At the weigh-ins, Pereira weighed in at 172 pounds, 1 pound over the welterweight non-title fight limit of 171. He was fined 20% of his purse and his bout with Connelly proceeded at a catchweight.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. *Fight of the Night: Tristan Connelly vs. Michel Pereira (Michel Pereira was ineligible to receive any bonus money due to missing weight, therefore Tristan Connelly received a $100,000 bonus.) *Performance of the Night: Justin Gaethje and Misha Cirkunov

References

{{2019 in mixed martial arts UFC Fight Night Mixed martial arts in Canada Sports competitions in Vancouver 2019 in mixed martial arts 2019 in British Columbia 2019 in Canadian sports

Background

Results

Bonus awards

See also

References