| UFC Fight Night: Benavidez vs. Figueiredo | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC Fight Night: Benavidez vs. Figueiredo | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | February 29, 2020 (2020-02-29) | |||
| Venue | Chartway Arena | |||
| City | Norfolk, Virginia, United States | |||
| Attendance | 7,098[1] | |||
| Total gate | $402,958[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC Fight Night: Benavidez vs. Figueiredo (also known asUFC Fight Night 169 andUFC on ESPN+ 27) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 29, 2020 atChartway Arena inNorfolk, Virginia, United States.[2][3]
The event was the second that the promotion has hosted in Norfolk and first sinceUFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Pettis in November 2017.[2]
AUFC Flyweight Championship bout for the vacant title between former title challengerJoseph Benavidez andDeiveson Figueiredo served as the event headliner. Multi-divisional championHenry Cejudo announced on December 19, 2019 that he would be relinquishing the flyweight title and concentrate on competing solely in the bantamweight division.[4]
A welterweight bout betweenAlex Oliveira andMickey Gall was scheduled for the event. However, the bout was pulled from the event on December 27 due to undisclosed reasons.[5]
A featherweight bout betweenChas Skelly andGrant Dawson was scheduled to take place atUFC 246, but Dawson was forced to withdraw from the bout.[6] The pairing was then rescheduled for this event.[7] In turn, it was reported on February 7 that Skelly was injured during one of his training sessions and therefore forced to withdraw from the fight.[8] He was replaced by promotional newcomerDarrick Minner.[9]
A featherweight bout betweenSteven Peterson and Aalon Cruz was scheduled to take place at the event. However, Peterson was pulled from the event for an unknown reason and replaced by promotional newcomerSpike Carlyle.[10]
A featherweight bout between Mike Davis and Giga Chikadze expected to take place at this event was cancelled after Davis pulled out due to an undisclosed injury. In turn, promotion officials elected to remove Chikadze from the card due to being unable to find a replacement and scheduled him to face Jamall Emmers atUFC 248, replacing an injured Movsar Evloev.[11]
A lightweight bout betweenLuis Peña and Alexander Muñoz was scheduled to take place at the event. However, it was announced on February 23 that Muñoz had pulled out due to injury.[12] He was replaced by Steve Garcia.[13]
At the weigh-ins, Figueiredo came in at 127.5 pounds, 2.5 pounds over the flyweight title fight limit of 125 pounds. As a result, he was ineligible to win the championship, while Benavidez remained eligible if he won.[14] Figueiredo was fined 30% of his purse, which went to Benavidez and the bout proceeded as scheduled at a catchweight.[14] Dawson also failed to make weight, coming in at 149.5 pounds, 3.5 pounds over the featherweight non-title fight limit of 146 pounds. He was also fined 30% of his fight purse, which went to Minner and the bout proceeded at a catchweight.[15]
| Main card (ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Catchweight (127.5 lb) | Deiveson Figueiredo | def. | Joseph Benavidez | TKO (punches) | 2 | 1:54 | [a] |
| Women's Featherweight | Felicia Spencer | def. | Zarah Fairn | TKO (elbows and punches) | 1 | 3:37 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Magomed Ankalaev | def. | Ion Cuțelaba | TKO (head kicks and punches) | 1 | 0:38 | |
| Women's Featherweight | Megan Anderson | def. | Norma Dumont | KO (punch) | 1 | 3:31 | |
| Catchweight (149.5 lb) | Grant Dawson | def. | Darrick Minner | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 1:38 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN+) | |||||||
| Bantamweight | Kyler Phillips | def. | Gabriel Silva | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Brendan Allen | def. | Tom Breese | TKO (elbows and punches) | 1 | 4:47 | |
| Heavyweight | Marcin Tybura | def. | Serghei Spivac | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Luis Peña | def. | Steve Garcia | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Jordan Griffin | def. | T.J. Brown | Technical Submission (guillotine choke) | 2 | 3:38 | |
| Featherweight | Spike Carlyle | def. | Aalon Cruz | TKO (punches) | 1 | 1:25 | |
| Welterweight | Sean Brady | def. | Ismail Naurdiev | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[17]
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the Virginia Department of Professional & Occupational Regulation (VDPOR). It does not include sponsor money or "locker room" bonuses often given by the UFC and also do not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses. The total disclosed payout for the event was $945,000.[18]
^Deiveson Figueiredo ($45,000) was fined 30% of his respective purse for failing to make the required weight for his fight against Joseph Benavidez. That money was issued to Benavidez, a VDPOR official confirmed.
>Although not recognized on the official pay sheet, Grant Dawson ($4,200) was fined 30% of his purse for failing to make the required weight for his fight against Darrick Minner. That money was issued to Minner, a VDPOR official confirmed. The VDPOR's initial report did not include information on the penalty.
