| UFC on ESPN: Błachowicz vs. Rakić | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC on ESPN: Błachowicz vs. Rakić | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | May 14, 2022 (2022-05-14) | |||
| Venue | UFC Apex | |||
| City | Enterprise, Nevada, United States | |||
| Attendance | Not announced[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC on ESPN: Błachowicz vs. Rakić (also known asUFC on ESPN 36 andUFC Vegas 54) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on May 14, 2022, at theUFC Apex facility inEnterprise, Nevada, part of theLas Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.[2]
A light heavyweight bout between formerKSW andUFC Light Heavyweight ChampionJan Błachowicz andAleksandar Rakić served as the event headliner.[3] They were previously scheduled to headlineUFC on ESPN: Blaydes vs. Daukaus, but Błachowicz withdrew due to an injury and the bout was cancelled.[4]
A women's flyweight bout between formerStrikeforce andUFC Women's Bantamweight ChampionMiesha Tate and formerInvicta FC Bantamweight Champion (also formerUFC Women's Flyweight Championship challenger)Lauren Murphy was expected to take place at this event.[5] However, the bout was moved toUFC 276 for unknown reasons.[6]
Ryan Spann andIon Cuțelaba met in a light heavyweight bout at the event.[7] The pair was previously scheduled to fight atUFC Fight Night: Makhachev vs. Green, but Spann was pulled due to injury.[8]
A flyweight bout between Jake Hadley and Allan Nascimento took place at the event.[9] The pair was previously scheduled to meet atUFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall, but the bout was cancelled due to Hadley's injury.[10]
Louis Smolka andDavey Grant were expected to meet in a bantamweight bout atUFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik in March 2020, but the event was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[11] They eventually met at this event.[12]
A lightweight bout betweenMichael Johnson andAlan Patrick was originally scheduled to take place one week prior atUFC 274, but it was pushed back to this event for unknown reasons.[13]
Daniel Pineda andJamall Emmers were expected to meet in a featherweight bout.[14] However, the bout was scrapped in late April for unknown reasons.[15]
A flyweight bout betweenTatsuro Taira and Carlos Candelario was expected to take place two weeks earlier atUFC on ESPN: Font vs. Vera.[16] However, it was scratched just hours before taking place due to Candelario suffering from an illness. They were then rescheduled for this event.[17]
| Main card (ESPN2 / ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Light Heavyweight | Jan Błachowicz | def. | Aleksandar Rakić | TKO (knee injury) | 3 | 1:11 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Ryan Spann | def. | Ion Cuțelaba | Submission (guillotine choke) | 1 | 2:22 | |
| Bantamweight | Davey Grant | def. | Louis Smolka | KO (punches) | 3 | 0:49 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Katlyn Chookagian | def. | Amanda Ribas | Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Manuel Torres | def. | Frank Camacho | TKO (punches) | 1 | 3:27 | |
| Flyweight | Allan Nascimento | def. | Jake Hadley | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Women's Flyweight | Viviane Araújo | def. | Andrea Lee | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–27, 29–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Michael Johnson | def. | Alan Patrick | KO (punches) | 2 | 3:22 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Virna Jandiroba | def. | Angela Hill | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Flyweight | Tatsuro Taira | def. | Carlos Candelario | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Andre Petroski | def. | Nick Maximov | Technical Submission (anaconda choke) | 1 | 1:16 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[19]
