UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley

UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley
The poster for UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley
Information
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	September 19, 2020 (2020-09-19)
Venue	UFC Apex
City	Enterprise, Nevada, United States
Attendance	None (behind closed doors) [1]
Event chronology
UFC Fight Night: Waterson vs. Hill UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa

UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley (also known as UFC Fight Night 178, UFC on ESPN+ 36 and UFC Vegas 11) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 19, 2020, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States. ^[2]

Background

The event was originally expected to take place on September 26, but it was moved up a week. UFC 253 took place on the former date. ^[3]

UFC officials had initially targeted a welterweight bout between former UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley and former interim champion Colby Covington to serve as the event headliner for UFC on ESPN: Munhoz vs. Edgar, but Woodley announced that the date did not provide him with time suitable enough to prepare because of injuries incurred during his most recent fight. ^[4] The pairing headlined this event. ^[5]

A heavyweight bout between Ciryl Gane and Shamil Abdurakhimov was expected to take place at this event. ^[6] The pairing was originally scheduled for UFC 249, but Gane was forced to pull out of the event after he was struck by a pneumothorax in training. ^[7] Subsequently, the pairing was rescheduled for UFC 251 and cancelled a second time as Abdurakhimov was removed from the bout for undisclosed reasons. ^[8] They were later rebooked for UFC 253, before eventually having the bout shifted to this event. ^[9] In turn, the bout then shifted again for undisclosed reasons and was expected to take place four weeks later at UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie. ^[10]

A flyweight bout between Jordan Espinosa and David Dvořák was expected to take place at UFC 253, but was later rebooked for this event due to undisclosed reasons. ^{[11] [12]}

A welterweight bout between Mickey Gall and Miguel Baeza was scheduled for the event. However, Gall pulled out on September 11 due to an injury. ^[13] He was replaced by Jeremiah Wells. ^[14] On September 17, it was announced that the bout was cancelled due to undisclosed reasons. ^[15]

A featherweight bout between Mirsad Bektić and Luiz Eduardo Garagorri was scheduled for the event. However, Garagorri was pulled from the fight on September 15 after a cornerman of his tested positive for COVID-19. ^[16] Bektić faced returning veteran Damon Jackson. ^[17]

Results

Main card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Welterweight	Colby Covington	def.	Tyron Woodley	TKO (rib injury)	5	1:19
Welterweight	Donald Cerrone	vs.	Niko Price	No Contest (overturned)	3	5:00	[lower-alpha 1]
Middleweight	Khamzat Chimaev	def.	Gerald Meerschaert	KO (punch)	1	0:17
Light Heavyweight	Johnny Walker	def.	Ryan Spann	KO (elbows and punches)	1	2:43
Women's Strawweight	Mackenzie Dern	def.	Randa Markos	Submission (armbar)	1	3:44
Middleweight	Kevin Holland	def.	Darren Stewart	Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Preliminary card (ESPN+)
Flyweight	David Dvořák	def.	Jordan Espinosa	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Damon Jackson	def.	Mirsad Bektić	Submission (guillotine choke)	3	1:21
Women’s Flyweight	Mayra Bueno Silva	def.	Mara Romero Borella	Submission (armbar)	1	2:29
Women’s Bantamweight	Jessica-Rose Clark	def.	Sarah Alpar	TKO (punch and knee)	3	4:21
Featherweight	Darrick Minner	def.	T.J. Laramie	Submission (guillotine choke)	1	0:52
Bantamweight	Randy Costa	def.	Journey Newson	KO (head kick)	1	0:41
Bantamweight	Andre Ewell	def.	Irwin Rivera	Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28)	3	5:00
Bantamweight	Tyson Nam	def.	Jerome Rivera	TKO (punches)	2	0:34

1. Price was deducted one point in round 1 due to repeated eye pokes. Originally a majority draw (29–27, 28–28, 28–28); overturned after Price tested positive for carboxy THC. ^[18]

^[19]

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. ^[20]

• Fight of the Night: No bonus awarded.
• Performance of the Night: Khamzat Chimaev, Mackenzie Dern, Damon Jackson and Randy Costa

Aftermath

On November 4, it was announced that the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) issued a temporary suspension for Niko Price, after he tested positive for carboxy THC in a drug test related to his fight. ^[21] A month later, On November 4, Price was officially suspended for six months retroactive to the date of the fight, with the result of the bout being overturned to a no contest due to the violation. He was fined $8,500 and before he is re-licensed in Las Vegas, Price will also have to pay a prosecution fee of $145.36. ^[18]

See also

• Martial Arts portal
• United States portal

• List of UFC events
• List of current UFC fighters
• 2020 in UFC

References

1. Jeffrey Harris (2020-09-12). "Colby Covington vs. Tyron Woodley to headline UFC on ESPN+ 36 next week, full lineup released". 411mania.com. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
2. Daniel Cunningham (2020-07-07). "UFC: Claudia Gadelha meets Yan Xiaonan on September 26th". empiresportsmedia.com. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
3. Tristen Critchfield (2020-08-15). "UFC 253, Israel Adesanya-Paulo Costa title bout official for Sept. 26". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
4. Ariel Helwani (2020-07-16). "Tyron Woodley open to Colby Covington fight, but not in August". abcnews.go.com. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
5. Reubyn Coutinho (2020-08-15). "Tyron Woodley reveals date of his clash against Colby Covington". essentiallysports.com. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
6. Clyde Aidoo (2020-08-25). "Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Ciryl Gane announced for Sep. 19". mmanews.com. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
7. Guilherme Cruz (2020-03-05). "Ciryl Gane out of UFC 249 fight with Shamil Abdurakhimov". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
8. Staff (2020-04-14). "Sergei Pavlovich encounters Ciryl Gane during the August 8 event". mmadna.nl. Retrieved 2020-07-15.(in Dutch)
9. Farah Hannoun (2020-07-15). "With Sergei Pavlovich out, Ciryl Gane vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov targeted for Sept. 19 UFC event". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
10. Staff (2020-09-09). "Cyril Gane vs Shamil Abdurakhimov rebooked for October 17". boxemag.com. Retrieved 2020-09-09.(in French)
11. Staff (2020-07-22). "Flyweights Jordan Espinosa and David Dvorak added to UFC 253". mmadna.nl. Retrieved 2020-07-22.(in Dutch)
12. Bohuslav Sedláček (2020-09-07). "David Dvorak is in Las Vegas! He will fight there on September 19". sportyzive.cz. Retrieved 2020-09-11.(in Czech)
13. Mike Heck (2020-09-11). "Mickey Gall injured, out of fight with Miguel Baeza at UFC Vegas 11". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
14. Dave Doyle (2020-09-15). "Miguel Baeza now fights Jeremiah Wells at UFC on ESPN+ 36". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
15. Danny Segura (2020-09-17). "Miguel Baeza vs. Jeremiah Wells removed from UFC on ESPN+ 36". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
16. Tudor Leonte (2020-09-15). "Luiz Eduardo Garagorri-Mirsad Bektic match scratched from UFC Fight Night 178". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
17. Farah Hannoun (2020-09-17). "With Eduardo Garagorri out, Damon Jackson steps in to face Mirsad Bektic at UFC on ESPN+ 36". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
18. John Morgan (2020-12-02). "UFC's Niko Price suspended, fined $8,500 for traces of marijuana in system". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
19. "UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley". Ultimate Fighting Championship. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
20. Andrew Ravens (2020-09-19). "UFC on ESPN+ 36 bonuses: four fighters get performance checks". mmanews.com. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
21. John Morgan (2020-11-04). "Kevin Croom, Jose Flores issued NAC suspensions for marijuana use; Niko Price also cited". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-11-05.