| UFC 231: Holloway vs. Ortega | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 231: Holloway vs. Ortega | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | December 8, 2018 | |||
| Venue | Scotiabank Arena | |||
| City | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | |||
| Attendance | 19,039 [1] | |||
| Total gate | $2,400,000 [1] | |||
| Buyrate | 300,000 [2] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 231: Holloway vs. Ortega was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on December 8, 2018 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [3]
A UFC Featherweight Championship bout between Max Holloway and Brian Ortega served as the event headliner. [4] The fight was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 226, but Holloway pulled out due to "concussion like symptoms". [5]
In the co-headlining slot, a bout for the vacant UFC Women's Flyweight Championship between former UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship challenger Valentina Shevchenko and former UFC Women's Strawweight Champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk took place. If victorious, Jędrzejczyk would become the first woman to win titles in different divisions. [6] They met previously in amateur muay thai and kickboxing, with Shevchenko winning all three encounters. [7] On October 2, the UFC announced that Shevchenko would face Sijara Eubanks at UFC 230 instead, as that event was in need of a headliner. [8] The fight between Shevchenko and Jędrzejczyk was put back together a week later though, as a fight between then UFC Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier and Derrick Lewis wound up filling the headlining slot at UFC 230. [9]
A lightweight bout between Gilbert Burns and Olivier Aubin-Mercier was previously scheduled to take place in February 2018 at UFC on Fox: Emmett vs. Stephens. However, Burns was pulled from the pairing during the week leading up to the event after medical officials deemed that it was unsafe for Burns to cut the necessary weight for the 156-pound limit. [10] The fight has been rescheduled for this event. [11]
A middleweight bout between The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 heavyweight winner Antônio Carlos Júnior and The Ultimate Fighter: Nations middleweight winner Elias Theodorou was initially scheduled to take place at UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Anders. However, Júnior pulled out on August 28 due to injury. [12] The pairing was then rescheduled for this event. [13] In turn, on September 13, it was reported that Júnior was forced to withdraw as a surgery is required to treat the injury that caused the first cancellation of this bout. [14] On October 1, it was reported that Eryk Anders would replace him. [15]
A light heavyweight bout between Jimi Manuwa and Thiago Santos was expected to headline UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Anders, but the bout was scrapped due to an injury suffered by Manuwa. [16] The pairing took place at this event. [15]
A featherweight bout between Renato Moicano and Mirsad Bektić was expected to take place at the event. However, Bektić was forced out of the bout due to an undisclosed injury on November 15. [17] Moicano instead served as the backup fighter for the main event. [18]
John Makdessi was expected to face Carlos Diego Ferreira at the event. However, Makdessi pulled out of the fight on November 28 and was replaced by returning veteran Jesse Ronson. [19] However, on December 4, it was announced that Ronson was pulled from the bout after Ontario Athletics Commission officials deemed that he was too heavy to safely make the lightweight 156-pound limit. [20] He was replaced by newcomer Kyle Nelson. [21]
| Main Card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Featherweight | Max Holloway (c) | def. | Brian Ortega | TKO (doctor stoppage) | 4 | 5:00 | [lower-alpha 1] |
| Women's Flyweight | Valentina Shevchenko | def. | Joanna Jędrzejczyk | Decision (unanimous) (49–46, 49–46, 49–46) | 5 | 5:00 | [lower-alpha 2] |
| Welterweight | Gunnar Nelson | def. | Alex Oliveira | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 4:17 | |
| Featherweight | Hakeem Dawodu | def. | Kyle Bochniak | Decision (split) (28–29, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Thiago Santos | def. | Jimi Manuwa | KO (punch) | 2 | 0:41 | |
| Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
| Women's Strawweight | Nina Ansaroff | def. | Cláudia Gadelha | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Gilbert Burns | def. | Olivier Aubin-Mercier | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Jessica Eye | def. | Katlyn Chookagian | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Elias Theodorou | def. | Eryk Anders | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Early Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Bantamweight | Brad Katona | def. | Matthew Lopez | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Dhiego Lima | def. | Chad Laprise | KO (punch) | 1 | 1:37 | |
| Lightweight | Carlos Diego Ferreira | def. | Kyle Nelson | TKO (punches) | 2 | 1:23 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Aleksandar Rakić | def. | Devin Clark | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:05 | |
The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses: [23]
Brian Martin Ortega is an American professional mixed martial artist. A 1st degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Ortega currently competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2010, Ortega has also competed in the RFA, where he was the Featherweight Champion. As of July 18, 2022, he is No. 3 in the UFC featherweight rankings.
Babajimi Abiola "Jimi" Manuwa is an American-born English retired mixed martial artist who competed in the light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Jerome Max Keli'i Holloway is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2010, Holloway became the UFC Featherweight Champion when he defeated José Aldo on June 3, 2017, before defending the title three times. As of July 11, 2023, he is #1 in UFC featherweight rankings, and as of August 29, 2023, he is #11 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.
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Thiago Santos de Lima is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently signed to the Professional Fighters League (PFL), competing in the light heavyweight division. Prior to signing with the PFL, Santos competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions, and he challenged for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship once in July 2019. A professional competitor since 2010, he gained entrance into the UFC by competing on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 2.
Joanna Jędrzejczyk is a Polish former professional mixed martial artist and Muay Thai kickboxer. She has been called the greatest female strawweight mixed martial artist of all time, including by Daniel Cormier, who credited her with putting the weight class "on the map". Jędrzejczyk holds several records in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is a former UFC Women's Strawweight Champion, including most successful strawweight title defenses (5), most consecutive wins at strawweight (8), and is the first Polish champion and first female European champion.
Elias Michael Theodorou was a Canadian mixed martial artist. He competed for the UFC in the Middleweight division where he was ranked 13th until his release, and won The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia. He became the first professional athlete to receive a therapeutic use exemption for cannabis in North America in January 2020.
Mirsad Bektić is a Bosnian-born American retired professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)
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Renato Alves Carneiro better known as Renato Moicano is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2010, Moicano made a name for himself fighting all over his home country of Brazil, and is the former interim Jungle Fight Featherweight Champion. As of June 13, 2023, he is #13 in the UFC lightweight rankings.
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