UFC 256: Figueiredo vs. Moreno | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Information | ||||
Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
Date | December 12, 2020 | |||
Venue | UFC Apex | |||
City | Enterprise, Nevada, United States | |||
Attendance | None (behind closed doors) [1] | |||
Event chronology | ||||
|
UFC 256: Figueiredo vs. Moreno was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 12, 2020 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States. [2] [3]
The promotion was initially targeting a UFC Welterweight Championship bout between current champion Kamaru Usman (also The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians welterweight winner) and Gilbert Burns to serve as the event headliner. [4] The pairing was previously scheduled to meet in July at UFC 251. [5] However, Burns was pulled from the contest after he and his coach, Greg Jones, tested positive for COVID-19. [6] In turn, Usman faced, and defeated Jorge Masvidal at that event. [7] On October 5, it was reported Usman pulled out from this bout, citing more time needed to recover from undisclosed injuries and the bout was postponed. [8]
While not officially announced by the organization, the promotion was also targeting a UFC Women's Featherweight Championship bout between the current champion Amanda Nunes (also the current UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion) and former Invicta FC Featherweight Champion Megan Anderson to serve as the event headliner. [2] In turn, it was announced on November 9 that Nunes pulled out due to an undisclosed injury and the bout was postponed to 2021. [9]
A UFC Bantamweight Championship bout between current champion Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling was originally scheduled to serve as the co-main event. [10] Due to the aforementioned cancelations, they were then expected to headline the card. On November 22, Russian media revealed that the fight was also canceled for personal reasons related to Yan and is expected to be booked at a later date. [11] Those "personal reasons" were later revealed to be related to visa and travel issues. [12]
Following his first title defense at UFC 255 on November 21, UFC Flyweight Champion Deiveson Figueiredo headlined this event against Brandon Moreno, who also fought at that same date. This booking represented the shortest turnaround between title fights by a champion in UFC history at just 21 days. [13] [14] Former Rizin FF Bantamweight Champion Manel Kape, who was expected to make his promotional debut a week later at UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Neal, served as a potential replacement. [15]
Former Invicta FC and UFC Women's Strawweight Champion Carla Esparza (also The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned women's strawweight winner) was briefly scheduled to face Amanda Ribas at the event. [16] However on October 9, it was announced that Esparza was pulled due to undisclosed reasons. [17] Ribas was rescheduled against former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion Michelle Waterson at UFC 257. [18]
A middleweight rematch between Omari Akhmedov and Marvin Vettori was briefly linked to the event. [19] The pairing met previously at UFC 219 in December 2017, when they fought to a majority draw. [20] On October 13, it was announced that Akhmedov pulled out due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Ronaldo Souza. [21] In turn, Vettori was removed from the contest to serve as a replacement for the main event of UFC on ESPN: Hermansson vs. Vettori a week earlier. [22] Kevin Holland, whom Vettori replaced due to a COVID-19 positive test, was rescheduled to face Souza at this event. [23]
A featherweight bout between Billy Quarantillo and Gavin Tucker took place at this event. [24] The pairing was previously scheduled to meet at an event on April 25 that was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [25] [26]
Renato Moicano and Rafael Fiziev were expected to meet in a lightweight bout at UFC on ESPN: Smith vs. Clark. [27] In turn, Moicano pulled out after testing positive for COVID-19 and the bout was rescheduled for this event. [28]
Andrea Lee was expected to face Gillian Robertson in a women's flyweight bout at this event. [29] However, Lee pulled out in early December due to a broken nose and Robertson was rescheduled to face Taila Santos at UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Neal. [30]
A week before the event, several fights were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic:
Main card | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
Flyweight | Deiveson Figueiredo (c) | vs. | Brandon Moreno | Draw (majority) (48–46, 47–47, 47–47) | 5 | 5:00 | [lower-alpha 1] |
Lightweight | Charles Oliveira | def. | Tony Ferguson | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–26, 30–26) | 3 | 5:00 | |
Women's Strawweight | Mackenzie Dern | def. | Virna Jandiroba | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
Middleweight | Kevin Holland | def. | Ronaldo Souza | KO (punches) | 1 | 1:45 | |
Heavyweight | Ciryl Gane | def. | Junior dos Santos | TKO (elbow) | 2 | 2:34 | |
Preliminary card (ESPN2 / ESPN+) | |||||||
Featherweight | Cub Swanson | def. | Daniel Pineda | KO (punches) | 2 | 1:52 | |
Lightweight | Rafael Fiziev | def. | Renato Moicano | KO (punches) | 1 | 4:05 | |
Featherweight | Gavin Tucker | def. | Billy Quarantillo | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
Women's Strawweight | Tecia Torres | def. | Sam Hughes | TKO (doctor stoppage) | 1 | 5:00 | |
Early preliminary card (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
Featherweight | Chase Hooper | def. | Peter Barrett | Submission (heel hook) | 3 | 3:02 |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. [42]
UFC 251: Usman vs. Masvidal was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 12, 2020 at the du Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It was originally planned to take place on June 6 at Perth Arena in Perth, Australia. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was eventually postponed on April 9 (see section below). In early June, it was confirmed that the event would instead take place in Abu Dhabi.
UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 19, 2020 at the du Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
UFC on ESPN: Eye vs. Calvillo was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on June 13, 2020, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC on ESPN: Smith vs. Clark was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 28, 2020, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC on ESPN: Hermansson vs. Vettori was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 5, 2020 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 16, 2021, at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
UFC 259: Błachowicz vs. Adesanya was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 6, 2021 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Neal was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 19, 2020 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC 258: Usman vs. Burns was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 13, 2021, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Lewis was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 20, 2021 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC 261: Usman vs. Masvidal 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on April 24, 2021 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, United States.
UFC 263: Adesanya vs. Vettori 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on June 12, 2021, at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, United States.
UFC 265: Lewis vs. Gane was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 7, 2021, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, United States.
UFC 269: Oliveira vs. Poirier was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 11, 2021, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC on ESPN: Font vs. Aldo was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 4, 2021, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC on ESPN: dos Anjos vs. Fiziev was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 9, 2022, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC 278: Usman vs. Edwards 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 20, 2022, at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
UFC 283: Teixeira vs. Hill was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 21, 2023, at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
UFC 286: Edwards vs. Usman 3 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 18, 2023, at The O2 Arena in London, England.
UFC 290: Volkanovski vs. Rodríguez was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 8, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena facility in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.