| UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Rodríguez | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Rodríguez | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | November 13, 2021 (2021-11-13) | |||
| Venue | UFC Apex | |||
| City | Enterprise, Nevada, United States | |||
| Attendance | Not announced[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Rodríguez (also known asUFC Fight Night 197,UFC Vegas 42 andUFC on ESPN+ 55) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 13, 2021, at theUFC Apex facility inEnterprise, Nevada, part of theLas Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.[2]
On October 19, it was announced that the UFC sent a memo to fighters and their staff regarding policy changes to U.S. international travel requirements. Starting on November 8, foreign individuals looking to travel to the United States will need to be fully vaccinated with, and provide proof of, one of sevenWorld Health Organization approved vaccines. They will also need a negative COVID-19 test from a 72-hour period prior to travel. The policy also applies to those crossing from Canada or Mexico, or those coming by ship. This was the first event under such requirement.[3][4]
A featherweight bout between formerUFC Featherweight ChampionMax Holloway andThe Ultimate Fighter: Latin America featherweight winnerYair Rodríguez served as the event headliner.[5] The pairing was previously scheduled to headlineUFC on ESPN: Makhachev vs. Moisés, but Holloway was pulled from the bout during the weeks leading up to that event due to injury.[6]
A light heavyweight bout betweenKennedy Nzechukwu andDa Un Jung was originally expected to take place atUFC Fight Night: Ladd vs. Dumont, but it was pushed back to this event for unknown reasons.[7]
A women's flyweight bout between formerUFC Women's Flyweight Championship challengerJessica Eye andAndrea Lee was scheduled for the event.[8] However, Eye pulled out of the bout in mid-October citing illness and was replaced byCynthia Calvillo.[9]
Two middleweight bouts betweenKevin Holland andKyle Daukaus, as well asEryk Anders andRoman Dolidze were scheduled for the event. However, Holland withdrew from his bout due to injury,[10] and Anders withdrew from the event for undisclosed reasons. Daukaus and Dolidze were then scheduled to face each other instead.[11] In turn, the bout was scrapped due toCOVID-19 protocols related to Dolidze's camp.[12]
A lightweight bout betweenMarc Diakiese andRafael Alves was rescheduled for the event.[13] The pair was previously expected to meet atUFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till, but Alves pulled out of the fight in mid-August due to undisclosed reasons and the bout was scrapped.[14]
A featherweight bout betweenLando Vannata and Tucker Lutz was expected to take place at this event.[15] However, Lutz was pulled from the bout and instead scheduled to facePat Sabatini atUFC Fight Night: Vieira vs. Tate.[16]
Former interimUFC Light Heavyweight Championship challengerOvince Saint Preux was expected to facePhilipe Lins in a light heavyweight bout at the event.[17] In turn, Saint Preux withdrew from the fight for undisclosed reasons and the bout was cancelled.[18][19]
A light heavyweight bout betweenDanilo Marques andJailton Almeida was scheduled for this event.[20] However, the bout was rescheduled due to Danilo getting injured and it is now expected to take place atUFC Fight Night 201.[21]
At the weigh-ins, two fighters missed weight for their respective bouts.Joel Álvarez weighed in at 157.5 pounds, one and a half pounds over the lightweight non-title fight limit.Liana Jojua weighed in at 128.5 pounds, two and a half pounds over the women's flyweight non-title fight limit. Both bouts proceeded at catchweight with Álvarez and Jojua each fined 30% of their purses, which went to their opponentsThiago Moisés andCortney Casey respectively.[22]
With eight knockouts, this event tied therecord for most knockouts in a single UFC event.[23]
| Main card (ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Featherweight | Max Holloway | def. | Yair Rodríguez | Decision (unanimous) (49–46, 48–47, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Marcos Rogério de Lima | def. | Ben Rothwell | TKO (punches) | 1 | 0:32 | |
| Women's Featherweight | Felicia Spencer | def. | Leah Letson | TKO (punches) | 3 | 4:25 | |
| Welterweight | Khaos Williams | def. | Miguel Baeza | TKO (punches) | 3 | 1:02 | |
| Bantamweight | Song Yadong | def. | Julio Arce | TKO (head kick and punches) | 2 | 1:35 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN+) | |||||||
| Catchweight (157.5 lb) | Joel Álvarez | def. | Thiago Moisés | TKO (elbows and punches) | 1 | 3:01 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Andrea Lee | def. | Cynthia Calvillo | TKO (corner stoppage) | 2 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Sean Woodson | def. | Collin Anglin | TKO (punches to the body) | 1 | 4:30 | |
| Catchweight (128.5 lb) | Cortney Casey | def. | Liana Jojua | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Rafael Alves | def. | Marc Diakiese | Submission (guillotine choke) | 1 | 1:48 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Da Un Jung | def. | Kennedy Nzechukwu | KO (elbows) | 1 | 3:04 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[25]
