| UFC on ESPN: Cannonier vs. Gastelum | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC on ESPN: Cannonier vs. Gastelum | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | August 21, 2021 (2021-08-21) | |||
| Venue | UFC Apex | |||
| City | Enterprise, Nevada, United States | |||
| Attendance | Not announced[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC on ESPN: Cannonier vs. Gastelum (also known asUFC on ESPN 29 andUFC Vegas 34) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 21, 2021, at theUFC Apex facility inEnterprise, Nevada, part of theLas Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.[2][3]
A middleweight bout between formerUFC Middleweight Championship challengerPaulo Costa andJared Cannonier was expected headline this event.[3] However, on June 4, Costa withdrew from the bout for unknown reasons and was replaced by former interim title challenger andThe Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen middleweight winnerKelvin Gastelum.[4] Costa later claimed he never signed the bout agreement and had issues with his payment, while not confirming them as the reason for his withdrawal.[5]
A heavyweight bout betweenChase Sherman andParker Porter took place at this event.[6] The pairing was previously scheduled to take place atUFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Gastelum, but Porter was removed from that contest due to undisclosed reasons.[7]
Brian Kelleher andDomingo Pilarte met in a bantamweight bout at this event.[8] The pairing was previously scheduled to take place in November 2018 atUFC 230, but Pilarte pulled out due to injury.[9]
A bantamweight bout between Mana Martinez and Jesse Strader was expected to take place at this event.[10] However, just over a week before the event, Strader withdrew from the bout for unknown reasons and was replaced byTrevin Jones.[11] In turn, Martinez pulled out during fight week due to undisclosed reasons.[12] Jones was then matched up with Saidyokub Kakhramonov.[13] At the weigh-ins, Kakhramonov weighed in at 138.5 pounds, two and a half pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at a catchweight and he forfeited 20% of his purse to Jones.[14]
A women's flyweight bout betweenCortney Casey andLiana Jojua in women's flyweight was scheduled for this event.[15] However, Jojua was forced out of the fight due to visa issues. The matchup is expected to remain intact and be rescheduled for a later event.[16]
Antônio Braga Neto andAbdul Razak Alhassan were expected to meet in a middleweight bout at this event.[17] They were eventually rescheduled forUFC on ESPN: Barboza vs. Chikadze the following week.[18]
| Main card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Middleweight | Jared Cannonier | def. | Kelvin Gastelum | Decision (unanimous) (48–47, 48–47, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Mark Madsen | def. | Clay Guida | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Parker Porter | def. | Chase Sherman | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Catchweight (138.5 lb) | Saidyokub Kakhramonov | def. | Trevin Jones | Technical Submission (guillotine choke) | 3 | 4:39 | |
| Lightweight | Vinc Pichel | def. | Austin Hubbard | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Flyweight | Alexandre Pantoja | def. | Brandon Royval | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 1:46 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN2 / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Featherweight | Austin Lingo | def. | Luis Saldaña | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Brian Kelleher | def. | Domingo Pilarte | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women’s Bantamweight | Josiane Nunes | def. | Bea Malecki | KO (punch) | 1 | 4:54 | |
| Light Heavyweight | William Knight | def. | Fabio Cherant | KO (punches) | 1 | 3:58 | |
| Lightweight | Ignacio Bahamondes | def. | Roosevelt Roberts | KO (spinning wheel kick) | 3 | 4:55 | |
| Welterweight | Ramiz Brahimaj | def. | Sasha Palatnikov | Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 2:33 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[20]
