| UFC Fight Night: Nzechukwu vs. Cuțelaba | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC Fight Night: Nzechukwu vs. Cuțelaba | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | November 19, 2022 (2022-11-19) | |||
| Venue | UFC Apex | |||
| City | Enterprise, Nevada, United States | |||
| Attendance | Not announced[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC Fight Night: Nzechukwu vs. Cuțelaba (also known asUFC Fight Night 215,UFC on ESPN+ 73 andUFC Vegas 65) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 19, 2022, at theUFC Apex facility inEnterprise, Nevada, part of theLas Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.[2]
A heavyweight bout between formerUFC Heavyweight Championship challengerDerrick Lewis andSergey Spivak was expected to headline the event.[3] However, while the event was in progress, Lewis was forced to withdraw due to non-COVID, non-weight cutting illness and the bout was cancelled. As a result, the intended light heavyweight co-main event betweenKennedy Nzechukwu andIon Cuțelaba headlined the event, with the fight being confirmed as the new main event just an hour before the start of the main card.[4]
Jack Shore was expected to faceKyler Phillips in a bantamweight bout.[5] However, Shore suffered "a serious knee injury" and is not expect to return to competition before the end of 2022. As a result, Phillips was pulled from the event.[6]
A light heavyweight bout betweenWilliam Knight andMarcin Prachnio was scheduled for the event.[7] However, the bout was scrapped a week before the event for undisclosed reasons.[8]
A middleweight bout betweenRodolfo Vieira andCody Brundage was expected to take place at the event.[9] However, Vieira pulled out from the event due to undisclosed reasons and the bout was scrapped.[10]
Vince Morales was expected to face José Johnson in a bantamweight bout.[11] However, Johnson pulled out for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by formerLFA Bantamweight ChampionMiles Johns.[12]
| Main card (ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Light Heavyweight | Kennedy Nzechukwu | def. | Ion Cuțelaba | TKO (knee and punches) | 2 | 1:02 | |
| Heavyweight | Waldo Cortes-Acosta | def. | Chase Sherman | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Muslim Salikhov | def. | André Fialho | TKO (spinning wheel kick and punches) | 3 | 1:03 | |
| Welterweight | Jack Della Maddalena | def. | Danny Roberts | TKO (punches) | 1 | 3:24 | |
| Flyweight | Charles Johnson | def. | Zhalgas Zhumagulov | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN+) | |||||||
| Women's Flyweight | Jennifer Maia | def. | Maryna Moroz | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Miles Johns | def. | Vince Morales | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Ricky Turcios | def. | Kevin Natividad | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Vanessa Demopoulos | def. | Maria Oliveira | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Brady Hiestand | def. | Fernie Garcia | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Natália Silva | def. | Tereza Bledá | TKO (spinning back kick and punches) | 3 | 1:27 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[14]
