| UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Sakai | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Sakai | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | September 5, 2020 (2020-09-05) | |||
| Venue | UFC Apex | |||
| City | Enterprise, Nevada, United States | |||
| Attendance | None (behind closed doors)[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Sakai (also known asUFC Fight Night 176,UFC on ESPN+ 34 andUFC Vegas 9) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 5, 2020, at theUFC Apex facility inEnterprise, Nevada, part of theLas Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.[2]
A heavyweight bout between the2010 K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, formerStrikeforce Heavyweight Champion andUFC Heavyweight Championship challengerAlistair Overeem andAugusto Sakai served as the event headliner.[2]
A women's bantamweight bout between formerUFC Women's Flyweight ChampionNicco Montaño andJulia Avila was originally scheduled forUFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Oleinik.[3] However, due to Montaño's coach John Wood testing positive for COVID-19, the bout was rescheduled for this event instead.[4] In turn, it was announced on August 29 that Montaño herself tested positive for the disease and the bout was pushed back toUFC on ESPN: Holm vs. Aldana in October.[5]
A women's flyweight bout betweenMaryna Moroz andMontana De La Rosa was scheduled for this event. However, Moroz was forced to withdraw as she was unable to secure avisa due totravel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic and was replaced byViviane Araújo.[6]
A lightweight bout betweenKhama Worthy andOttman Azaitar was previously scheduled to take place earlier this year atUFC 249.[7] However, the event was cancelled in early April due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[8] The pairing was rescheduled and took place at this event.[9] In turn, the pair was moved toUFC Fight Night: Waterson vs. Hill for undisclosed reasons.[10]
A women's flyweight bout betweenMayra Bueno Silva andMara Romero Borella was briefly linked to this event.[11] However, promotion officials rescheduled the pairing for undisclosed reasons and the bout was expected to take place two weeks later atUFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley.[12]
A light heavyweight bout between former interimUFC Light Heavyweight Championship challengerOvince Saint Preux andAlonzo Menifield was scheduled to take place two weeks earlier atUFC on ESPN: Munhoz vs. Edgar.[13] However, the bout was removed from the card on the day of the event as Saint Preuxtested positive for COVID-19. In turn, the pairing was targeted for this event.[14]
A women's bantamweight bout betweenMacy Chiasson andSijara Eubanks was scheduled for this event.[15] However, Chiasson pulled out of the fight for undisclosed medical reasons and was replaced byKarol Rosa.[16] Rosa pulled out on September 3 due to complications related to her weight cut. Eubanks is expected to compete a week later atUFC Fight Night: Waterson vs. Hill againstJulia Avila.[17]
A bantamweight bout betweenRicky Simon andBrian Kelleher was scheduled for this event, but Simon'scornerman tested positive for COVID-19 and he was forced to withdraw from the event.[18] He was replaced by promotional newcomer Kevin Natividad and they were expected to meet in a featherweight bout.[19] In turn, Natividad was pulled from the matchup on the day of the event due to undisclosed reasons and replaced by fellow newcomer Ray Rodriguez, who weighed in as a backup on Friday.[20]
A few hours before the event,American Top Team teammatesThiago Moisés andMarcos Rogério de Lima pulled out of their respective bouts at lightweight againstJalin Turner and heavyweight againstAlexander Romanov due to testing positive for COVID-19, thus cancelling both matchups.[21][22]
Due to the many unexpected changes and last minute cancellations, the event took place with only seven bouts on the card, making it the smallest UFC event sinceThe Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale in November 2005.[23]
All the fights were on the main card due to the many cancellations and changes. The card consisted of 7 mixed martial arts bouts, which were scheduled for three five-minute rounds, except for the main event fight between Overeem and Sakai, which would consist of five five-minute rounds. The fights were held behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and the event was broadcast on ESPN+.
| Main card (ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Heavyweight | Alistair Overeem | def. | Augusto Sakai | TKO (elbows and punches) | 5 | 0:26 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Ovince Saint Preux | def. | Alonzo Menifield | KO (punch) | 2 | 4:07 | |
| Welterweight | Michel Pereira | def. | Zelim Imadaev | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 3 | 4:39 | |
| Middleweight | André Muniz | def. | Bartosz Fabiński | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 2:42 | |
| Featherweight | Brian Kelleher | def. | Ray Rodriguez | Submission (guillotine choke) | 1 | 0:39 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Viviane Araújo | def. | Montana De La Rosa | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Hunter Azure | def. | Cole Smith | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[25]
