| UFC on ESPN: Barboza vs. Gaethje | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC on ESPN: Barboza vs. Gaethje | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | March 30, 2019 (2019-03-30) | |||
| Venue | Wells Fargo Center | |||
| City | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |||
| Attendance | 11,123[1] | |||
| Total gate | $1,102,542.16[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC on ESPN: Barboza vs. Gaethje (also known asUFC on ESPN 2) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that was held on March 30, 2019 at theWells Fargo Center inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania.[2]
This was the third UFC event in Philadelphia and the first sinceUFC 133 in August 2011.[2]
A lightweight bout betweenEdson Barboza and formerWSOF Lightweight ChampionJustin Gaethje served as the event headliner.[3][4]
A strawweight bout betweenAlexa Grasso andMarina Rodriguez was scheduled atUFC Fight Night: Assunção vs. Moraes 2. However, it was reported on December 17, that Rodriguez pulled out of the event due to a hand injury.[5] The pairing was left intact and rescheduled for this event.[6] In turn, it was reported that Grasso was pulled from the bout due to injury and replaced by formerWSOF Women's Strawweight ChampionJessica Aguilar.[7]
A bantamweight bout between formerUFC Flyweight Championship challengerRay Borg andLiu Pingyuan was scheduled to take place at the event.[8] However, it was reported on March 13, that Liu was replaced by newcomerKyler Phillips for an undisclosed reason.[9] In turn, Phillips was removed from the card on March 25 for undisclosed reasons and replaced byCasey Kenney.[10]
At the weigh-ins, Borg weighed in at 137.75 lb, 1.75 lb over the bantamweight non-title fight limit of 136 lb. He was fined 20% of his fight purse and his bout against Kenney proceeded at catchweight.[11]
| Main Card (ESPN) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Lightweight | Justin Gaethje | def. | Edson Barboza | KO (punch) | 1 | 2:30 | |
| Middleweight | Jack Hermansson | def. | David Branch | Submission (guillotine choke) | 1 | 0:49 | |
| Featherweight | Josh Emmett | def. | Michael Johnson | KO (punch) | 3 | 4:14 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Michelle Waterson | def. | Karolina Kowalkiewicz | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Paul Craig | def. | Kennedy Nzechukwu | Submission (triangle choke) | 3 | 4:20 | [a] |
| Featherweight | Sodiq Yusuff | def. | Sheymon Moraes | Decision (unanimous) (29–27, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary Card (ESPN) | |||||||
| Women's Strawweight | Marina Rodriguez | def. | Jessica Aguilar | Decision (unanimous) (29–26, 29–27, 29–27) | 3 | 5:00 | [b] |
| Lightweight | Desmond Green | def. | Ross Pearson | TKO (punches) | 1 | 2:52 | |
| Featherweight | Kevin Aguilar | def. | Enrique Barzola | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Kevin Holland | def. | Gerald Meerschaert | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Early Preliminary Card (ESPN+) | |||||||
| Catchweight (137.75 lb) | Casey Kenney | def. | Ray Borg | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Maryna Moroz | def. | Sabina Mazo | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Alex Perez | def. | Mark De La Rosa | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses:[13]
