The Blog

 Introduction UFC Fight Night 176: Overeem vs. Sakai took place on September 5, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas — UFC Vegas 9, the promotion’s first of four September events in the pandemic year. The event was headlined by a five-round heavyweight collision between veteran Alistair Overeem and rising Brazilian contender Augusto Sakai, with Overeem surviving a brutal contest to stop his younger opponent in the championship rounds. The card also featured four Performance of the Night bonus winne

 Introduction UFC Fight Night 175: Smith vs. Rakić took place on August 29, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas — UFC Vegas 8, the fourth consecutive Saturday the promotion held a card at its facility during the pandemic era. Originally planned as a featherweight showdown between Yair Rodríguez and Zabit Magomedsharipov, both men pulled out, and a last-minute restructure elevated a light heavyweight battle between Anthony Smith and Aleksandar Rakić to the main event just two weeks before fight nig

 Introduction UFC Fight Night 174: Lewis vs. Oleinik took place on August 8, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas — UFC Vegas 6, the third consecutive week the promotion ran a card at its purpose-built facility as the pandemic-era schedule pushed on. The event was headlined by a heavyweight collision between Derrick Lewis and Aleksei Oleinik, and Lewis wasted no time: he blitzed the submission specialist in 24 seconds of round two with a devastating TKO, setting up a highlight that swept the intern

 Introduction UFC Fight Night 173: Brunson vs. Shahbazyan took place on August 1, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas — the first card back in Nevada after the UFC's July stint on Fight Island. The event was chaos before it even began: the original main event (Holly Holm vs. Irene Aldana) was scrapped when Aldana tested positive for COVID-19, two further fights were cancelled on fight day itself, and the card shrank from 15 scheduled bouts to just eight. What remained was a night that delivered ge

 Introduction UFC Fight Night 172: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2 took place on July 18-19, 2020 at the Flash Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE — the third of four Fight Island events staged by the UFC in July 2020 as the promotion continued operating in a closed bubble amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The event crowned a new flyweight champion in emphatic fashion: Deiveson Figueiredo submitted Joseph Benavidez in the first round with a rear-naked choke after three knockdowns, ending one of the most pa

 Introduction UFC Fight Night 171: Smith vs. Teixeira took place on May 13, 2020 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida — the second of three events the UFC staged in just six days as it roared back from an eight-week COVID-19 shutdown. With no fans in the building, Glover Teixeira delivered a dominant, relentless performance to stop Anthony Smith in the fifth round. The stoppage came much later than it should have, sparking a fierce debate about fighter safety that echoed lo

 Introduction UFC Fight Night 170: Lee vs. Oliveira took place on March 14, 2020, in Brasília, Brazil — a night remembered not just for its in-cage action but for the eerie silence surrounding it. With the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the globe, the UFC became one of the first major sports organisations to stage an event behind closed doors, completing the entire card at Ginásio Nilson Nelson with zero fans present. It was a surreal, historic moment — the sport pressing forward as the world stood

UFC Fight Night 169: Benavidez vs. Figueiredo — Feb 29, 2020 (LEAP DAY!), Norfolk Virginia. LAST UFC CARD before COVID-19! ESPN+ 27. Figueiredo MISSED WEIGHT by 2.5 lbs → only Benavidez eligible for title. Figueiredo TKO’d Benavidez R2 → TITLE REMAINS VACANT! Benavidez’s 3rd consecutive FLW title fight failure. Cutelaba vs. Ankalaev CONTROVERSIAL 38-second stoppage. Anderson PoN, Griffin PoN. Phillips/Silva FotN. Sean Brady + Ankalaev debut wins.

UFC Fight Night 168: Felder vs. Hooker — Feb 23, 2020, Auckland New Zealand. 3rd UFC in Auckland! ESPN+ 26. 510th UFC event! 10,025 fans; $1.24M gate. Hooker SD win at HOME (48-47x2; FotN; Felder eye swelled R1 but competed all 5 rounds; 243 combined sig strikes!). Crute 8-TAKEDOWN KIMURA PoN (unbelievable grappling volume!). Cachoeira 40-SECOND KO PoN (snapped 3-fight losing streak!). Brad Riddell debut win (future top-5 LW!). Yan Xiaonan 30-26 domination.

UFC Fight Night 167: Anderson vs. Blłachowicz 2 — Feb 15, 2020, Rio Rancho New Mexico. FIRST UFC IN RIO RANCHO! ESPN+ 25. 5,282ft altitude! FIRST EVER UFC EVENT WITH TWO DQs (Pereira illegal knee + Vargas illegal knee)! Blłachowicz R1 KO of Anderson PoN — TAUNTED JON JONES at cageside! Jim Miller earns 7TH CAREER FotN (MOST IN UFC HISTORY!) with Holtzman; tied Cerrone at 33 UFC bouts. Rodriguez debut guillotine PoN. Dvalishvili wins (future BW champion!).

UFC Fight Night 166: Blaydes vs. dos Santos — Jan 25, 2020, Raleigh North Carolina. FIRST UFC IN RALEIGH; FIRST IN NC since 2013! ESPN+ 24. 14,533 fans; $1.3M gate. Blaydes R2 TKO of JDS (striking switch!). Chiesa def. RDA at WW (3rd consecutive win!). Jamahal Hill 2nd UFC win (future LHW champion!). Herbert Burns DEBUT KNEE KO PoN (brother of Gilbert!). Perez arm-triangle R1 PoN (future FLW title challenger!). Johns/Gravely FotN. Arnold Allen def. Lentz.

UFC Fight Night 165: Edgar vs. Korean Zombie — Dec 21, 2019, Busan South Korea. FIRST UFC IN BUSAN; 2nd in South Korea! LAST UFC EVENT OF 2019! Korean Zombie R1 TKO of Edgar PoN (‘I WANT VOLKANOVSKI!’ in English; Edgar was 2-week replacement!). Jourdain/Choi FotN (CHOI BROKE FOREARM but kept fighting! Jourdain FIRST UFC WIN!). Da Un Jung 64-sec KO at home. Oezdemir def. Rakic SD (controversial). Pantoja PoN. 7 South Korean fighters on card!