| UFC on ESPN: Kara-France vs. Albazi | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC on ESPN: Kara-France vs. Albazi | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | June 3, 2023 (2023-06-03) | |||
| Venue | UFC Apex | |||
| City | Enterprise, Nevada United States | |||
| Attendance | Not announced[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC on ESPN: Kara-France vs. Albazi (also known asUFC on ESPN 46 orUFC Vegas 74) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on June 3, 2023, at theUFC Apex facility inEnterprise, Nevada, part of theLas Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.[2]
A middleweight bout betweenJack Hermansson and formerLFA Middleweight ChampionBrendan Allen was expected to headline the event.[3] However, Hermansson withdrew in late April due to an undisclosed injury and the bout was scratched.[4] Allen was eventually rescheduled againstBruno Silva atUFC on ABC: Emmett vs. Topuria on June 25.[5] As a result, a scheduled flyweight bout between former interimUFC Flyweight Championship challengerKai Kara-France andAmir Albazi was promoted to main event status.[6]
FormerUFC Flyweight Championship challenger (alsoThe Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions flyweight winner)Tim Elliott and Allan Nascimento were expected to meet in a flyweight bout at the event.[7] However on April 28, Nascimento pulled out due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by formerLFA Flyweight Champion Victor Altamirano.[8]
FormerStrikeforce andUFC Women's Bantamweight ChampionMiesha Tate was expected to faceMayra Bueno Silva in a women's bantamweight contest.[9] However on May 10, it was announced that Tate suffered an undisclosed injury and Bueno Silva was moved to headlineUFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Bueno Silva against another former champion inHolly Holm.[10]
A featherweight bout betweenDavid Onama and Khusein Askhabov was expected to take place at this event.[11] However, Askhabov withdrew for unknown reasons.[12] Onama was instead rescheduled to face Gabriel Santos atUFC on ABC: Emmett vs. Topuria.[13]
Jim Miller andĽudovít Klein were expected to meet in a lightweight bout.[14] However, Klein pulled out on May 19 due to illness and was replaced byJared Gordon.[15] In turn, Gordon was pulled from the bout on the week of the event after not being medically cleared and was replaced by promotional newcomer Jesse Butler.[16]
A lightweight bout betweenJamie Mullarkey and Guram Kutateladze was scheduled for this event.[17] However, Kutateladze withdrew from the bout due to visa issues and was replaced byMuhammad Naimov.[18][19]
A bantamweight bout betweenJohn Castañeda and Mateus Mendonça was scheduled to take place at this event. However, Mendonça withdrew from the bout citing an injury and was replaced by Muin Gafurov.[20]
| Main Card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Flyweight | Amir Albazi | def. | Kai Kara-France | Decision (split) (47–48, 48–47, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Alex Caceres | def. | Daniel Pineda | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Jim Miller | def. | Jesse Butler | KO (punch) | 1 | 0:23 | |
| Flyweight | Tim Elliott | def. | Victor Altamirano | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Karine Silva | def. | Ketlen Souza | Submission (kneebar) | 1 | 1:45 | |
| Welterweight | Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos | def. | Abubakar Nurmagomedov | Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Bantamweight | Daniel Santos | def. | Johnny Muñoz Jr. | Decision (unanimous) (29–27, 29–27, 29–27) | 3 | 5:00 | [a] |
| Heavyweight | Don'Tale Mayes | def. | Andrei Arlovski | TKO (punches) | 2 | 3:17 | |
| Bantamweight | John Castañeda | def. | Muin Gafurov | Decision (unanimous) (29–27, 29–27, 29–27) | 3 | 5:00 | [b] |
| Lightweight | Muhammad Naimov | def. | Jamie Mullarkey | TKO (punches) | 2 | 2:59 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Elise Reed | def. | Jinh Yu Frey | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Da'Mon Blackshear | def. | Luan Lacerda | TKO (punches) | 2 | 3:54 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Philipe Lins | def. | Maxim Grishin | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[22]
