| UFC on ESPN: Blaydes vs. Volkov | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC on ESPN: Blaydes vs. Volkov | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | June 20, 2020 (2020-06-20) | |||
| Venue | UFC Apex | |||
| City | Enterprise, Nevada, United States | |||
| Attendance | None (behind closed doors)[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC on ESPN: Blaydes vs. Volkov (also known asUFC on ESPN 11 andUFC Vegas 3) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on June 20, 2020 at theUFC Apex facility inEnterprise, Nevada, part of theLas Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.[2][3]
The event was initially scheduled to take place at theSaskTel Centre inSaskatoon,Saskatchewan, Canada.[4] Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, UFC presidentDana White announced on April 9 that starting withUFC 249, all future events were indefinitely postponed.[5] The event would have marked the promotion's second visit to Saskatoon, followingUFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Oliveira in August 2015.[4] On May 21, the UFC announced the cancelation of the event in Canada.[6]
A heavyweight bout betweenCurtis Blaydes and formerBellator Heavyweight ChampionAlexander Volkov served as the event headliner.[2]
A welterweight bout between formerBellator Welterweight ChampionLyman Good andBelal Muhammad was previously expected to take place atUFC 205 in November 2016, but Good was pulled from that event after being notified by theUnited States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) due to a potential anti-doping violation stemming from an out-of-competition drug test.[7] The matchup was once again booked for UFC 249 in April 2020, but Good pulled out due to testing positive for COVID-19, being the first fighter to publicly acknowledge the fact.[8] They ultimately met at this event instead.[9]
Joe Solecki was expected to faceAustin Hubbard at the event. However, Solecki was removed from the pairing on June 13 for undisclosed reasons.[10] He was replaced by promotional newcomer Max Rohskopf.[11]
Matt Frevola was scheduled to faceFrank Camacho at the event. However, Frevola was pulled from the fight during the week leading up to the event after teammate andcornerman,Billy Quarantillo,tested positive for COVID-19. Despite two negative tests, Frevola was removed from the bout in an abundance of caution.[12] Promotional newcomerJustin Jaynes was tabbed as a replacement to face Camacho.[13]
At the weigh-ins,Frank Camacho weighed in at 158 pounds, two pounds over the lightweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at a catchweight and Camacho was fined 20% of his purse, which went to his opponent Justin Jaynes.[14]
| Main card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Heavyweight | Curtis Blaydes | def. | Alexander Volkov | Decision (unanimous) (49–46, 48–47, 48–46) | 5 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Josh Emmett | def. | Shane Burgos | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Bantamweight | Raquel Pennington | def. | Marion Reneau | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Belal Muhammad | def. | Lyman Good | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Catchweight (160 lb) | Jim Miller | def. | Roosevelt Roberts | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 2:25 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Lightweight | Bobby Green | def. | Clay Guida | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Tecia Torres | def. | Brianna Van Buren | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Marc-André Barriault | vs. | Oskar Piechota | No Contest (overturned) | 2 | 4:50 | [a] |
| Women's Flyweight | Gillian Robertson | def. | Cortney Casey | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 3 | 4:32 | |
| Catchweight (158 lb) | Justin Jaynes | def. | Frank Camacho | TKO (punches) | 1 | 0:41 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Lauren Murphy | def. | Roxanne Modafferi | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Austin Hubbard | def. | Max Rohskopf | TKO (retirement) | 2 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[17]
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to theNevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC). It does not include sponsor money and also does not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses. The total disclosed payout for the event was $1,655,000.[18]
^Camacho ($5,000) was fined 20% of his purse for failing to make the required weight limit for his fight. That money was issued to his opponent, a NSAC official confirmed.
On August 5, it was announced that the NSAC issued a temporary suspension forMarc-André Barriault, after he tested positive forostarine in his drug test associated with the event. The suspension would hold until a full disciplinary hearing at the next NSAC meeting, expected to take place in September.[19] Four months later, Barriault was officially suspended for nine months retroactive to the date of the fight, with the result of the bout being overturned to a no contest due to the violation. He was fined $2,100 and before he is re-licensed in Las Vegas, Barriault will also have to pay a prosecution fee of $254.38.[15]
