| UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | January 19, 2019 (2019-01-19) | |||
| Venue | Barclays Center | |||
| City | Brooklyn,New York | |||
| Attendance | 12,152[1] | |||
| Total gate | $1,230,000[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw (also known asUFC Fight Night 143 orUFC on ESPN+ 1) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that was held on January 19, 2019, at theBarclays Center inBrooklyn,New York.[2]
The event was the first in the promotion's five-year contract withESPN and the first to be broadcast on the network's fledgling streaming serviceESPN+, which was launched less than a month after the initial announcement in April 2018.[2][3] It generated 525,000 new subscribers to the service on the day of the event alone.[4] It was also the first UFC event to showcase the new UFC legacy belt, which was given out to the winner ofCejudo vs. Dillashaw.[5]
AUFC Flyweight Championship bout between2008 Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling and current championHenry Cejudo and current two-timeUFC Bantamweight ChampionT.J. Dillashaw headlined this event.[6] If successful, Dillashaw would become the third man to be champion in two divisions simultaneously and fourth fighter overall (afterConor McGregor atUFC 205,Daniel Cormier atUFC 226 andAmanda Nunes atUFC 232), as well as the seventh person overall to win a title in different divisions. This was the fifth time in UFC history that champions in different divisions fought for the same title, followingUFC 94,UFC 205,UFC 226 andUFC 232. The pairing was initially expected to take place atUFC 233 a week later, but was moved on December 5.[7]
A women's flyweight bout betweenRachael Ostovich andPaige VanZant was originally canceled on November 20 due to Ostovich being assaulted by her husband, resulting in a broken orbital bone.[8] However, after getting a second opinion from a doctor, though, Ostovich got the green light to stay in the bout.[9] After announcing that formerNFL playerGreg Hardy would make his UFC debut at this event, the decision to put him on the same card as Ostovich was met with backlash by many people as Hardy was found guilty of assaulting an ex-girlfriend, and sentenced to 18 months probation as well as being suspended for 10 games by the NFL.[10][11][12] The charges and suspension were later dropped after the victim failed to appear in court to testify, but Hardy's arrest and trial were the focus of considerable controversy.[13] UFC presidentDana White later claimed that Ostovich was "totally cool" with Hardy on the same card as her.[14]
A women's flyweight bout betweenKSW Women's Flyweight Champion and promotional newcomerAriane Lipski andJoanne Calderwood was initially scheduled forUFC 233.[15] However, it was reported on December 2 that the bout had been rescheduled for this event instead.[16]
As a result of the cancellation ofUFC 233, a flyweight bout between formerUFC Flyweight Championship challengerJoseph Benavidez andDeiveson Figueiredo was briefly linked to this event.[17] However the following day, the promotion clarified plans indicating that the pairing was off and that Benavidez would be an alternate for the headliner bout in the event that either Cejudo or Dillashaw would be forced from the main event.[18][19] Later it was announced that despite still being an alternate, Benavidez would faceDustin Ortiz in a rematch of his unanimous decision win atUFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Swanson in November 2014.[20]
A bantamweight bout betweenThomas Almeida andCory Sandhagen was briefly linked to the event.[18] However, on December 22, it was announced that Sandhagen would faceJohn Lineker in the event instead.[21] On January 10, Lineker was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a rib injury.[22] He was replaced by promotional newcomerMario Bautista.[23]
Ion Cuțelaba was expected to face formerUFC Light Heavyweight Championship challengerGlover Teixeira at this event. However, on January 10, it was reported that Cuțelaba was forced out of the bout due to injury.[24] He was replaced byKarl Roberson.[25]
Randy Brown was expected to faceChance Rencountre, but pulled out in the week leading up to the event.[26]Dwight Grant was soon announced as his replacement, but it was later reported that he was unable to be cleared to fight due to an "eye issue".[27] Promotional newcomer Kyle Stewart was then announced as Rencountre's new opponent.[28]
| Main Card (ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Flyweight | Henry Cejudo (c) | def. | T.J. Dillashaw | TKO (punches) | 1 | 0:32 | [a] |
| Heavyweight | Allen Crowder | def. | Greg Hardy | DQ (illegal knee) | 2 | 2:28 | |
| Lightweight | Gregor Gillespie | def. | Yancy Medeiros | TKO (punches) | 2 | 4:59 | |
| Flyweight | Joseph Benavidez | def. | Dustin Ortiz | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Paige VanZant | def. | Rachael Ostovich | Submission (armbar) | 2 | 1:50 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Glover Teixeira | def. | Karl Roberson | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | 1 | 3:21 | |
| Preliminary Card (ESPN) | |||||||
| Lightweight | Donald Cerrone | def. | Alexander Hernandez | TKO (head kick and punches) | 2 | 3:43 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Joanne Calderwood | def. | Ariane Lipski | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–26, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Alonzo Menifield | def. | Vinicius Moreira | TKO (punches) | 1 | 3:56 | |
| Bantamweight | Cory Sandhagen | def. | Mario Bautista | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 3:31 | |
| Early Preliminary Card (ESPN+) | |||||||
| Lightweight | Dennis Bermudez | def. | Te Edwards | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–26, 30–26) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Geoff Neal | def. | Belal Muhammad | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Chance Rencountre | def. | Kyle Stewart | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 2:25 | |
The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses:[30]
On March 20, it was announced that Dillashaw was suspended one-year due to a failed drug test in relation to this event and therefore he decided to vacate his title.[31] He initially received a one-year suspension by theNew York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) retroactive to the event's date.[32] On April 9, Dillashaw accepted a two-year suspension byUSADA, retroactive to January 19, as it was revealed he tested positive toerythropoietin in a fight night test.[33]
