| UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Neal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Neal | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | December 19, 2020 (2020-12-19) | |||
| Venue | UFC Apex | |||
| City | Enterprise, Nevada, United States | |||
| Attendance | None (behind closed doors)[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Neal (also known asUFC Fight Night 183,UFC on ESPN+ 41 andUFC Vegas 17) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 19, 2020 at theUFC Apex facility inEnterprise, Nevada, part of theLas Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.[2]
A welterweight bout betweenLeon Edwards andKhamzat Chimaev was initially scheduled to headline this event.[3] On November 29, it was announced that Chimaev hadtested positive for COVID-19, but was expected to be able to compete.[4] In turn, Edwards pulled out two days later after also testing positive. His case was worse than Chimaev's and he was still suffering from severe symptoms of thedisease. The promotion was expected to keep the bout intact and reschedule the pairing for a future event in early 2021, but Chimaev's lingering symptoms prevented him from returning untilUFC 267.[5]
The original co-main event, a welterweight bout between formerUFC Welterweight Championship challengerStephen Thompson andGeoff Neal served as the event headliner.[6]
A flyweight bout betweenMatt Schnell andTyson Nam was expected to take place at the event.[7] The pairing was previously scheduled to take place in September atUFC Fight Night: Waterson vs. Hill.[8] However, the fight was canceled on the day of the event's weigh-in as Schnell was deemed medically unfit to compete due to complications related to his weight cut.[9] The bout was subsequently rescheduled forUFC on ESPN 20.[10]
A welterweight bout betweenBelal Muhammad andSean Brady was expected to take place at this event.[11] However in late October, Muhammad revealed that Brady had a broken nose and had to pull out of their bout.[12] He was replaced byDhiego Lima.[13] Subsequently, Muhammad was diagnosed with COVID-19 during the week leading up to the event and the bout was scrapped. The pairing is expected to be left intact and rescheduled for a future event in early 2021.[14]
Deron Winn andAntônio Braga Neto were expected to meet in a middleweight bout at the event.[15] In turn, Braga Neto was removed from the contest due to undisclosed reasons and replaced byAntônio Arroyo, thus changing the contest to a catchweight of 195 pounds.[16]
A flyweight bout betweenAlexandre Pantoja and formerRizin FF Bantamweight ChampionManel Kape was scheduled for the event. However, Pantoja pulled out of the fight in early December due toCOVID-19 symptoms.[17][18] Kape served as a potential replacement for theUFC Flyweight Championship bout between current championDeiveson Figueiredo andBrandon Moreno a week earlier atUFC 256.[19]
Misha Cirkunov was expected to faceRyan Spann in a light heavyweight bout at this event.[20] However, Cirkunov pulled out in early December due to an injury and the bout was postponed to a future date.[21]
A flyweight bout between Jimmy Flick andCody Durden was initially scheduled forUFC on ESPN: Hermansson vs. Vettori two weeks earlier, but the pairing was canceled on the day of the event after Durden hadconjunctivitis.[22] The matchup was left intact and took place at this event.[23]
Also rescheduled for this event was a middleweight bout betweenKarl Roberson andDalcha Lungiambula. They were expected to meet at UFC 256, but Roberson tested positive for COVID-19 and the fight was postponed.[23] A day before the event, they suffered a second cancellation due to Roberson's COVID-19 related issues.[24]
A lightweight bout between formerWSOF Featherweight ChampionRicky Glenn and Carlton Minus was scheduled for this event.[25] However, it was announced that Glenn pulled out during fight week due to undisclosed reasons.[26] He was replaced byChristos Giagos and the bout took place at a catchweight of 160 pounds.[27]
Aiemann Zahabi was expected to face Drako Rodriguez in a bantamweight bout at this event.[28] However, the bout was scrapped on December 17 due to Zahabi testing positive for COVID-19.[29]
| Main card (ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Welterweight | Stephen Thompson | def. | Geoff Neal | Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 50–45, 50–45) | 5 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | José Aldo | def. | Marlon Vera | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Michel Pereira | def. | Khaos Williams | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Rob Font | def. | Marlon Moraes | TKO (punches) | 1 | 3:47 | |
| Heavyweight | Marcin Tybura | def. | Greg Hardy | TKO (punches) | 2 | 4:31 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Welterweight | Anthony Pettis | def. | Alex Morono | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Bantamweight | Pannie Kianzad | def. | Sijara Eubanks | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Catchweight (195 lb) | Deron Winn | def. | Antônio Arroyo | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women’s Flyweight | Taila Santos | def. | Gillian Robertson | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–26, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Tafon Nchukwi | def. | Jamie Pickett | Decision (unanimous) (30–25, 30–26, 30–26) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Flyweight | Jimmy Flick | def. | Cody Durden | Submission (flying triangle choke) | 1 | 3:18 | |
| Catchweight (160 lb) | Christos Giagos | def. | Carlton Minus | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 29–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[31]
