| UFC on ESPN: Luque vs. dos Anjos | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC on ESPN: Luque vs. dos Anjos | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | August 12, 2023 (2023-08-12) | |||
| Venue | UFC Apex | |||
| City | Enterprise, Nevada, United States | |||
| Attendance | Not announced[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC on ESPN: Luque vs. dos Anjos (also known asUFC on ESPN 51 andUFC Vegas 78) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 12, 2023, at theUFC Apex facility inEnterprise, Nevada, part of theLas Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.[2]
A welterweight bout between formerUFC Lightweight ChampionRafael dos Anjos andVicente Luque was briefly rumored to headlineUFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Bueno Silva.[3] However, the pair was moved to this date and served as the headliner.[2]
Chris Daukaus was expected to make his light heavyweight debut againstKhalil Rountree Jr. atUFC 289, but withdrew in early June due to injury.[4] The bout was rescheduled for this event.[5]
A bantamweight bout between Gaston Bolaños andMarcus McGhee was scheduled for this event.[6] However, Bolaños withdrew due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced byJP Buys.[7]
Mike Breeden was expected to faceLando Vannata in a lightweight bout at the event.[8] However, Vannata pulled out in early August and was replaced byTerrance McKinney.[9][10]
Da'Mon Blackshear was expected to face Brady Hiestand in a bantamweight bout at the event.[11] However, Hiestand pulled out in early August due to a medical issue and was replaced byDana White's Contender Series alum Jose Johnson.[12]
At the weigh-ins,Tafon Nchukwi and Josh Fremd missed weight. Nchukwi weighed in at 189.5 pounds and Fremd weighed in at 189 pounds, three and a half pounds and three pounds over the middleweight non-title fight limit respectively. Both of their bouts proceeded at catchweight and each was fined an undisclosed percentage of their purse, which went to their opponents A.J. Dobson andJamie Pickett respectively.[13]
| Main card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Welterweight | Vicente Luque | def. | Rafael dos Anjos | Decision (unanimous) (49–46, 48–47, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Cub Swanson | def. | Hakeem Dawodu | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Khalil Rountree Jr. | def. | Chris Daukaus | TKO (punches) | 1 | 2:40 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Iasmin Lucindo | def. | Polyana Viana | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | 2 | 3:42 | |
| Catchweight (189.5 lb) | A.J. Dobson | def. | Tafon Nchukwi | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Catchweight (189 lb) | Josh Fremd | def. | Jamie Pickett | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Bantamweight | Marcus McGhee | def. | JP Buys | KO (punch) | 1 | 2:19 | |
| Lightweight | Terrance McKinney | def. | Mike Breeden | TKO (punches) | 1 | 1:25 | |
| Featherweight | Isaac Dulgarian | def. | Francis Marshall | TKO (elbows) | 1 | 4:48 | |
| Heavyweight | Martin Buday | def. | Josh Parisian | Submission (kimura) | 1 | 4:11 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Jaqueline Amorim | def. | Montserrat Ruiz | TKO (elbows and punches) | 3 | 3:41 | |
| Bantamweight | Da'Mon Blackshear | def. | Jose Johnson | Submission (twister) | 1 | 3:47 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Luana Santos | def. | Juliana Miller | TKO (punches) | 1 | 3:41 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[15]
With seven first-round finishes, this event ties the record for most first-round finishes in a single UFC event.[1]
