UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland

UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland
The poster for UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	December 17, 2022 (2022-12-17)
Venue	UFC Apex
City	Enterprise, Nevada, United States
Attendance	Not announced [1]
Event chronology
UFC 282: Błachowicz vs. Ankalaev UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Imavov

UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland (also known as UFC Fight Night 216, UFC on ESPN+ 74 and UFC Vegas 66) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 17, 2022, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States. ^[2]

Background

A middleweight bout between former UFC Middleweight Championship challenger Jared Cannonier and Sean Strickland served as the main event. ^[3] The pairing was previously scheduled to headline UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Araújo, but it was scrapped after Strickland withdrew due to a finger infection. ^[4]

A middleweight bout between Bruno Silva and Albert Duraev was scheduled to take place at the event. ^[5] However, Silva withdrew due to an injury and was replaced by Michał Oleksiejczuk. ^[6] In turn, Duraev was forced to withdraw for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Cody Brundage. ^[7]

Former UFC Flyweight Championship challenger Alex Perez was expected to face Amir Albazi at the event. ^[8] However, he pulled out due to undisclosed reasons in late October and was replaced by Brandon Royval. ^[9] In turn, Royval withdrew from the card in late November due to a broken wrist during training and was replaced by Alessandro Costa. ^{[10] [11]}

A light heavyweight bout between Tafon Nchukwi and Jamal Pogues was expected to take the event. ^[12] However, Pogues pull out from the bout due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Vitor Petrino. ^[13] Nchukwi eventually pulled out of the bout himself due to undisclosed reasons and the bout was scrapped. ^[14]

Michael Morales was expected to face Rinat Fakhretdinov in a welterweight bout. ^[15] However, Morales pulled out due to a fractured toe. ^[16] He was replaced by The Return of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Volkanovski vs. Team Ortega middleweight winner Bryan Battle. ^[17]

A middleweight bout between Julian Marquez and Deron Winn was expected to take place at the event. ^[18] However, just two days before the event, Winn was forced to withdraw after fainting and falling down a set of stairs, sustaining a minor concussion. As a result, the bout was scrapped. ^[19]

At the weigh-ins, Hayisaer Maheshate weighed in at 158.5 pounds, two and a half pounds over the lightweight non-title fight limit. His bout proceeded at catchweight and he was fined 20% of his purse, which went to his opponent Rafa García. ^[20]

Results

Main card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Middleweight	Jared Cannonier	def.	Sean Strickland	Decision (split) (49–46, 46–49, 49–46)	5	5:00
Lightweight	Arman Tsarukyan	def.	Damir Ismagulov	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Flyweight	Amir Albazi	def.	Alessandro Costa	KO (punches)	3	2:13
Featherweight	Alex Caceres	def.	Julian Erosa	TKO (head kick and punches)	1	3:04
Lightweight	Drew Dober	def.	Bobby Green	KO (punch)	2	2:45
Middleweight	Michał Oleksiejczuk	def.	Cody Brundage	KO (punches)	1	3:16
Preliminary card (ESPN+)
Women's Strawweight	Cory McKenna	def.	Cheyanne Vlismas	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Welterweight	Matthew Semelsberger	def.	Jake Matthews	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Bantamweight	Said Nurmagomedov	def.	Saidyokub Kakhramonov	Submission (ninja choke)	2	3:50
Catchweight (158.5 lb)	Rafa García	def.	Hayisaer Maheshate	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Welterweight	Rinat Fakhretdinov	def.	Bryan Battle	Decision (unanimous) (30–25, 30–25, 30–27)	3	5:00
Flyweight	Manel Kape	def.	David Dvořák	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28)	3	5:00
Bantamweight	Sergey Morozov	def.	Journey Newson	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00

^[21]

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. ^[22]

• Fight of the Night: Drew Dober vs. Bobby Green
• Performance of the Night: Alex Caceres and Michał Oleksiejczuk

See also

• Martial Arts portal

• List of UFC events
• List of current UFC fighters
• 2022 in UFC

References

1. Mike Bohn (2022-12-18). "UFC Fight Night 216 post-event facts: Drew Dober ties Dustin Poirier's knockout record". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
2. Nolan King (2022-09-20). "NAC approves seven UFC event licenses for remainder of 2022, including six UFC Apex shows". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
3. Danny Segura (2022-09-13). "Jared Cannonier vs. Sean Strickland to headline UFC Fight Night event on Dec. 17". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
4. Mike Heck (2022-08-30). "Sean Strickland out of headliner with Jared Cannonier at UFC event on Oct. 15". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
5. Guilherme Cruz (2022-09-01). "Bruno Silva vs. Albert Duraev added to UFC's final card of 2022". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
6. Guilherme Cruz (2022-09-20). "Michal Oleksiejczuk replaces Bruno Silva vs. Albert Duraev at UFC's final card of 2022". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
7. Farah Hannoun and Nolan King (2022-12-02). "With Albert Duraev out, Cody Brundage steps in to face Michal Oleksiejczuk at UFC Fight Night 216". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
8. Mookie Alexander (2022-08-30). "Alex Perez vs. Amir Albazi slated for UFC Fight Night in December". bloodyelbow.com. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
9. Farah Hannoun (2022-10-25). "Brandon Royval vs. Amir Albazi booked for UFC Fight Night on Dec. 17". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
10. Nolan King (2022-11-23). "Brandon Royval announces he's out of UFC Fight Night 216 due to broken wrist". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2022-11-23.
11. Arshad (2022-11-23). "Alessandro Costa replaced Royval against Amir Albazi at UFC Vegas 66". itnwwe.com. Retrieved 2022-11-23.
12. Tristen Critchfield (2022-08-24). "Tafon Nchukwi vs. Jamal Pogues booked for UFC Fight Night on Dec. 17". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
13. Raphael Marinho (2022-11-03). "UFC: Vitor Petrino has his debut scheduled against Tafon Nchukwi". ge.globo.com. Retrieved 2022-11-03.(in Brazilian Portuguese)
14. Sarmah, Manjit. "Breaking: UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland fighter Tafon Nchukwi pulls out due to injury". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
15. Nolan King (2022-10-03). "Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Sept. 26-Oct. 2)". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
16. Danny Segura (2022-11-30). "Unbeaten Michael Morales injured, out of UFC Fight Night 216 vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
17. Arshad (2022-12-02). "UFC Vegas 66: Bryan Battle Replaced Morales Against Rinat Fakhretdinov". itswwe.com. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
18. Nolan King (2022-08-27). "UFC books Julian Marquez vs. Deron Winn for Dec. 17". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
19. Damon Martin (2022-12-15). "Deron Winn out of UFC Vegas 66 after fainting, falling down stairs at UFC Performance Institute". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
20. Alexander K. Lee (2022-12-16). "UFC Vegas 66 weigh-in results: Maheshate misses weight by 2.5 pounds". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
21. "UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland". Ultimate Fighting Championship. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
22. Chris Taylor (2022-12-17). "UFC Vegas 66 Bonus Report: Drew Dober among four fighters to take home $50k". bjpenn.com. Retrieved 2022-12-17.