| UFC 223: Khabib vs. Iaquinta | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 223: Khabib vs. Iaquinta | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | April 7, 2018 (2018-04-07) | |||
| Venue | Barclays Center | |||
| City | Brooklyn,New York | |||
| Attendance | 17,026[1] | |||
| Total gate | $3,007,108[1] | |||
| Buyrate | 350,000[2] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 223: Khabib vs. Iaquinta was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that was held on April 7, 2018, at theBarclays Center inBrooklyn,New York.[3]
AUFC Lightweight Championship bout between interim champion andThe Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos welterweight winnerTony Ferguson andKhabib Nurmagomedov was originally expected to headline this event.[4] The pairing had previously been scheduled and cancelled for various reasons on three occasions over the previous three years (The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber Finale,UFC on Fox: Teixeira vs. Evans andUFC 209).[5][6][7] Due to the inactivity of formerUFC Featherweight Champion and current lightweight championConor McGregor, the promotion had indicated that he would be stripped of his title and that the winner of the proposed Ferguson/Nurmagomedov bout would become the undisputed champion.[8] Despite confirming on January 19 that the winner of this bout would become thede facto champion, UFC presidentDana White did not confirm if McGregor would be stripped.[9]
For the fourth time in four years, the bout fell apart, as Ferguson pulled out of the fight on April 1 due to a knee injury. He was replaced by thenUFC Featherweight ChampionMax Holloway. If successful, Holloway would have become only the second fighter to be champion in two divisions simultaneously (after McGregor who won the lightweight title atUFC 205 when he was the reigning featherweight champion) as well as the fifth overall to win titles in different divisions.[10] On weigh-in day, the main event suffered another set back as Holloway was deemed medically unfit to compete and then removed from the event.[11] The UFC targeted former lightweight championAnthony Pettis as his replacement, after Pettis' bout againstMichael Chiesa was scrapped due to an incident caused by McGregor (see section below). Pettis weighed in at 155.2 pounds in his first attempt, and despite being given extra time to make the championship weight limit of 155 pounds, he did not weigh in again.[12]
After Holloway was pulled from the event,Paul Felder also offered to step in to face Nurmagomedov as he weighed in at 155, but theNew York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) declined it due to Felder being unranked in the UFC official rankings.[13] The UFC booked Felder's opponentAl Iaquinta instead.[14] Due to weighing 0.2 lb over the championship weight limit, Iaquinta would not be officially eligible for the title in case he won, but UFC presidentDana White expressed that he would be considered champion by the UFC, and treated as such to the extent possible under regulations.[15] The NYSAC later reaffirmed that Iaquinta could not be officially recognized as champion.[16] Both Felder and Pettis were also off the event.[14] The bout between Iaquinta and Felder was originally scheduled forUFC 218. However, Iaquinta pulled out due to an undisclosed injury and the bout was rescheduled for this event.[17][18]
AUFC Women's Strawweight Championship bout between the current championRose Namajunas and former championJoanna Jędrzejczyk served as the co-headliner for this event.[19] The pairing previously met in November 2017 atUFC 217 with Namajunas winning the title via knockout in the first round.[20]
Mairbek Taisumov was expected to faceEvan Dunham at the event. However, Taisumov withdrew from the fight on March 9 overvisa delays.[21] Dunham facedOlivier Aubin-Mercier at the event.[22]
On April 5, following the event's media day,Conor McGregor and his crew attacked a bus containing several fighters scheduled to compete at the event, just as it was leaving the arena following a press conference. Nurmagomedov and two teammates were inside that bus. The attack included objects being thrown through a window, which then shattered.[23] As a result of this act, the event suffered several changes:
McGregor eventually turned himself in to theNYPD and was held in custody as charges were filed. He was later arrested alongsideSBG teammate Cian Cowley and charged with three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief.[28] They were released with a bail of $50,000 and $25,000, respectively.[29] The charges were dropped in late July after McGregor pleaded no contest to a count of disorderly conduct for his role in the melee and performed five days of community service.[30][31][32]
| Main Card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Lightweight | Khabib Nurmagomedov | def. | Al Iaquinta | Decision (unanimous) (50–44, 50–43, 50–43) | 5 | 5:00 | [a] |
| Women's Strawweight | Rose Namajunas (c) | def. | Joanna Jędrzejczyk | Decision (unanimous) (49–46, 49–46, 49–46) | 5 | 5:00 | [b] |
| Featherweight | Renato Moicano | def. | Calvin Kattar | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Zabit Magomedsharipov | def. | Kyle Bochniak | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Chris Gruetzemacher | def. | Joe Lauzon | TKO (corner stoppage) | 2 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
| Women's Strawweight | Karolina Kowalkiewicz | def. | Felice Herrig | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Olivier Aubin-Mercier | def. | Evan Dunham | TKO (knees to the body and punches) | 1 | 0:53 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Ashlee Evans-Smith | def. | Bec Rawlings | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Devin Clark | def. | Mike Rodríguez | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses:[34]
