| UFC 252: Miocic vs. Cormier 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 252: Miocic vs. Cormier 3 | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | August 15, 2020 (2020-08-15) | |||
| Venue | UFC Apex | |||
| City | Enterprise, Nevada, United States | |||
| Attendance | None (behind closed doors)[1] | |||
| Buyrate | 500,000[2] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 252: Miocic vs. Cormier 3 was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 15, 2020, at theUFC Apex facility inEnterprise, Nevada, part of theLas Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.[3]
The promotion was initially targeting another event to take place on this date at3Arena inDublin,Ireland.[4] However, the organization confirmed in June that the Dublin card was indefinitely postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[5]
_(cropped).jpg)
AUFC Heavyweight Championship trilogy between current two-time championStipe Miocic and former championDaniel Cormier (also formerUFC Light Heavyweight Champion) took place as the event headliner.[6] The pairing first met atUFC 226 on July 7, 2018, where Cormier, as the light heavyweight champion, returned to heavyweight and captured the title by knocking Miocic out in the first round.[7] Their second meeting took place atUFC 241 on August 17, 2019, where Miocic regained the belt and got his revenge via fourth-round knockout.[8] Cormier also announced that he planned on retiring after this bout.[9]
A bantamweight bout betweenPedro Munhoz and formerUFC Lightweight ChampionFrankie Edgar was briefly linked toUFC 251, but promotion officials elected to schedule the pairing four days later forUFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige.[10] On July 6, it was announced that the bout between Munhoz and Edgar was scrapped after Munhoztested positive for COVID-19.[11] They were later rescheduled for this event.[12] However, promotion officials then moved the pairing again to serve as the main event ofUFC on ESPN: Munhoz vs. Edgar.[13]
A light heavyweight rematch betweenMagomed Ankalaev andIon Cuțelaba was expected to take place at this event.[14] The pairing first met atUFC Fight Night: Benavidez vs. Figueiredo, where Ankalaev won via controversial knockout.[15] The bout was originally expected to take place atUFC 249, on its original April 18 date. However, Ankalaev was forced to pull out of the event due totravel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16] Cuțelaba then pulled out on August 11, as a result of testing positive for COVID-19 and the bout was rescheduled forUFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Rakić.[17]
Rogério Bontorin was expected to face promotional newcomerManel Kape at the event. However, Bontorin pulled out of the fight on July 22 due to an ankle injury.[18] In turn, Kape announced his debut would be postponed and that he would not appear on the card either, also due to an ankle injury.[19]
A light heavyweight bout between Jorge Gonzalez andIke Villanueva was expected to take place at the event.[20] However, due to allegedvisa issues for Gonzalez, the pairing was pushed back and expected to take place a week later atUFC on ESPN: Munhoz vs. Edgar.[21]
At the weigh-ins,Herbert Burns andT.J. Brown missed weight for their respective featherweight bouts. Burns weighed in at 149.5 pounds, three and a half pounds over the non-title fight limit. Brown weighed in at 146.5 pounds, half a pound over the non-title fight limit. Both of their bouts proceeded at a catchweight and they were each fined 20% of their individual purses, which went to their opponentsDaniel Pineda andDanny Chavez.[22]
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Heavyweight | Stipe Miocic (c) | def. | Daniel Cormier | Decision (unanimous) (49–46, 49–46, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | [a] |
| Bantamweight | Marlon Vera | def. | Sean O'Malley | TKO (elbows and punches) | 1 | 4:40 | |
| Heavyweight | Jairzinho Rozenstruik | def. | Junior dos Santos | TKO (punches) | 2 | 3:47 | |
| Catchweight (149.5 lb) | Daniel Pineda | def. | Herbert Burns | TKO (elbows) | 2 | 4:37 | |
| Bantamweight | Merab Dvalishvili | def. | John Dodson | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary Card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Lightweight | Vinc Pichel | def. | Jim Miller | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Virna Jandiroba | def. | Felice Herrig | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 1:44 | |
| Catchweight (146.5 lb) | Danny Chavez | def. | T.J. Brown | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Lívia Renata Souza | def. | Ashley Yoder | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Early Preliminary Card (ESPN / ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Heavyweight | Chris Daukaus | def. | Parker Porter | TKO (punches and knee) | 1 | 4:28 | |
| Featherweight | Kai Kamaka III | def. | Tony Kelley | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[24]
