| UFC 263: Adesanya vs. Vettori 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 263: Adesanya vs. Vettori 2 | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | June 12, 2021 (2021-06-12) | |||
| Venue | Gila River Arena | |||
| City | Glendale, Arizona, United States | |||
| Attendance | 17,208[1] | |||
| Total gate | $4,200,000[1] | |||
| Buyrate | 600,000[2] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 263: Adesanya vs. Vettori 2 was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on June 12, 2021, at theGila River Arena inGlendale, Arizona, United States.[3][4]
The event was the second that the promotion has contested in Glendale, followingUFC on Fox: Poirier vs. Gaethje in April 2018.[4]Zuffa had previously hosted the finalWorld Extreme Cagefighting event,WEC 53, at the arena in December 2010.[4]
AUFC Middleweight Championship bout between then championIsrael Adesanya andMarvin Vettori headlined the event.[5] The pair previously met atUFC on Fox: Poirier vs. Gaethje, where Adesanya won via split decision.[6]
AUFC Flyweight Championship rematch between championDeiveson Figueiredo and former title challengerBrandon Moreno took place as the co-main event.[3] The pairing previously met in December 2020 atUFC 256, where Figueiredo retained the title after the bout was scored a majority draw.[7]
A light heavyweight bout betweenPaul Craig andJamahal Hill took place at the event.[8] The pairing was previously scheduled to take place atUFC on ESPN: Brunson vs. Holland, but Hill withdrew from that event on March 10 aftertesting positive for COVID-19.[9]
A welterweight fight betweenLeon Edwards and formerUFC Lightweight Championship challengerNate Diaz (alsoThe Ultimate Fighter 5 lightweight winner) was expected to take place atUFC 262.[10] However, Diaz pulled out due to a minor injury in early May and the bout took place at this event.[11] Despite the different date, the pairing retained its original status, marking the first time in UFC history that a non-title bout other than the main event was scheduled for five rounds.[12]
A women's bantamweight bout betweenKarol Rosa andSijara Eubanks was scheduled to take place at the event.[13] However, Rosa pulled out of the fight in late-May citing an eye injury. In turn, Eubanks was removed from the card and will facePriscila Cachoeira six weeks later atUFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs. Dillashaw instead.[14]
A lightweight bout betweenFrank Camacho andMatt Frevola was originally scheduled to take place atUFC on ESPN: Blaydes vs. Volkov in June 2020, but Frevola was pulled from the fight during the week leading up to the event after teammate andcornermanBilly Quarantillo tested positive for COVID-19. Despite two negative tests, Frevola was removed from the bout in an abundance of caution.[15] They were then rescheduled for this event.[16] In turn, Camacho pulled out of the fight four days before the event after being injured in a car accident. Frevola faced promotional newcomerTerrance McKinney instead.[17]
At the weigh-ins,Steven Peterson weighed in at 148.5 pounds, two and a half pounds over the featherweight non-title fight limit. His bout proceeded at catchweight and he was fined 20% of his purse, which went to his opponentChase Hooper.[18]
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Middleweight | Israel Adesanya (c) | def. | Marvin Vettori | Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 50–45, 50–45) | 5 | 5:00 | [a] |
| Flyweight | Brandon Moreno | def. | Deiveson Figueiredo (c) | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 3 | 2:26 | [b] |
| Welterweight | Leon Edwards | def. | Nate Diaz | Decision (unanimous) (49–46, 49–46, 49–46) | 5 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Belal Muhammad | def. | Demian Maia | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Paul Craig | def. | Jamahal Hill | TKO (elbows and punches) | 1 | 1:59 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Lightweight | Brad Riddell | def. | Drew Dober | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Eryk Anders | def. | Darren Stewart | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–27, 29–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Lauren Murphy | def. | Joanne Calderwood | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Movsar Evloev | def. | Hakeem Dawodu | Decision (unanimous) (29–27, 29–27, 29–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Early preliminary card (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Women's Bantamweight | Pannie Kianzad | def. | Alexis Davis | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Terrance McKinney | def. | Matt Frevola | KO (punches) | 1 | 0:07 | |
| Catchweight (148.5 lb) | Steven Peterson | def. | Chase Hooper | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Farès Ziam | def. | Luigi Vendramini | Decision (majority) (29–28, 29–28, 28–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Carlos Felipe | def. | Jake Collier | Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[20]
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported by the Arizona Department of Gaming. It does not include sponsor money and also does not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses. Total disclosed purses for the event was $3,233,000.[21]
¹Although not recognized on the official pay sheet, Steven Peterson was fined 20 percent of his purse ($9,200) for failing to make the required weight for his fight with Chase Hooper. That money was issued to Hooper, an ADOG official confirmed.[18]
The event broke the record forthe most decisions on a single UFC card with 11, breaking the five-way tie withUFC 169,UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Mousasi,UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Bisping,UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Tybura, andUFC on ESPN: dos Anjos vs. Edwards and laterUFC Fight Night: Vieira vs. Tate. This event was also the longestUFC event with 3:19:32 of fight time.[1]
