| UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | July 16, 2020 (2020-07-16) | |||
| Venue | du Forum | |||
| City | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | |||
| Attendance | None (behind closed doors)[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige (also known asUFC on ESPN 13 andUFC Fight Island 1) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 16, 2020 at thedu Forum onYas Island,Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.[2]
This event was the second of four UFCFight Island events scheduled to take place on Yas Island in July 2020, followingUFC 251, as part of a plan to facilitate the hosting of events involving fighters impacted by U.S.travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]
Without fans in attendance, the promotion didn't have to worry about the local timing of the event, so it proceeded with normal timing forprime time hours on theeast coast of North America. The main card began at 6:00 am (July 16) local time in Abu Dhabi, and a full preliminary card began at approximately 3:00 amGulf Standard Time.[3]
A featherweight bout betweenCalvin Kattar andDan Ige served as the event headliner.[4]
A middleweight bout betweenJohn Phillips andDuško Todorović was expected to take place atUFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards. However, the event was the first of five to be cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic and the bout was moved toCage Warriors 113 (as the English organization's president decided to help some of the scheduled bouts to happen in his promotion's event scheduled for March 20).[5][6] In turn, Todorović pulled out due to other travel restrictions in the region.[7] They were then expected to meet at this event.[8] On July 8, Todorović pulled out once again, this time due to a potential medical issue.[9] He was replaced by promotional newcomerKhamzat Chimaev.[10]
A bantamweight bout betweenPedro Munhoz and formerUFC Lightweight ChampionFrankie Edgar was briefly linked toUFC 251, four days earlier. However, promotion officials elected to schedule the pairing for this event.[11] On July 6, it was announced that the bout between Munhoz and Edgar was scrapped due to Munhoz testing positive for COVID-19.[12] They were rescheduled forUFC 252.[13]
A light heavyweight bout betweenVinicius Moreira andModestas Bukauskas was scheduled for the event, along with another bout betweenAnderson dos Santos andJack Shore at bantamweight. However, Moreira and dos Santos bothtested positive for COVID-19 on July 3 and were removed from the event.[14] They were replaced byAndreas Michailidis andAaron Phillips respectively.[15][16]
A women's strawweight bout between formerInvicta FC andUFC Women's Strawweight ChampionCarla Esparza andMarina Rodriguez was scheduled for the event. However, a Rodriguezcornerman tested positive for COVID-19 and the bout was cancelled. Rodriguez had her test come back negative, but the bout was scrapped due to precautionary reasons.[17] They were rescheduled forUFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till on July 26.[18]
A light heavyweight bout between Timo Feucht and Kenneth Bergh was scheduled for the event. However, one day after the bout was announced, Feucht was removed from the event for unknown reasons and was replaced by Jorge Gonzalez.[19] It was later announced that Feucht was removed due to pastNeo-Nazi ties, including a January 2016 attack in the Connewitz district ofLeipzig for which he was arrested.[20] In turn, the bout was cancelled on the day of the weigh-ins as Bergh had issues during his weight cut.[21]
At the weigh-ins,Abdul Razak Alhassan andChris Fishgold missed weight for their respective bouts. Alhassan weighed in at 174 pounds, three pounds over the welterweight non-title fight limit. Fishgold weighed in at 149 pounds, three pounds over the featherweight non-title fight limit. Both their bouts proceeded at a catchweight and they were respectively fined 20% of their individual purses, which went to their opponentsMounir Lazzez andJared Gordon.[22]
| Main card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Featherweight | Calvin Kattar | def. | Dan Ige | Decision (unanimous) (49–46, 49–46, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | |
| Flyweight | Tim Elliott | def. | Ryan Benoit | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Jimmie Rivera | def. | Cody Stamann | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Taila Santos | def. | Molly McCann | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–26) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Catchweight (174 lb) | Mounir Lazzez | def. | Abdul Razak Alhassan | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary Card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Middleweight | Khamzat Chimaev | def. | John Phillips | Submission (D'Arce choke) | 2 | 1:12 | |
| Featherweight | Lerone Murphy | def. | Ricardo Ramos | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:18 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Modestas Bukauskas | def. | Andreas Michailidis | TKO (elbows) | 1 | 5:00 | |
| Catchweight (149 lb) | Jared Gordon | def. | Chris Fishgold | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–26, 30–26) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Liana Jojua | def. | Diana Belbiţă | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 2:47 | |
| Bantamweight | Jack Shore | def. | Aaron Phillips | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 2:29 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.
