| UFC on ESPN: Sandhagen vs. Font | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC on ESPN: Sandhagen vs. Font | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | August 5, 2023 (2023-08-05) | |||
| Venue | Bridgestone Arena | |||
| City | Nashville, Tennessee, United States | |||
| Attendance | 17,792[1] | |||
| Total gate | $2,102,127.12[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC on ESPN: Sandhagen vs. Font (also known asUFC on ESPN 50) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 5, 2023 atBridgestone Arena inNashville, Tennessee, United States.[2]
The event marked the promotion's sixth visit to Nashville and first sinceUFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Pettis in March 2019.[2]
A bantamweight bout between former interimUFC Bantamweight Championship challengerCory Sandhagen andUmar Nurmagomedov was expected to headline the event.[3] However, Nurmagomedov withdrew from the event in mid-July due to a shoulder injury.[4] He was replaced byRob Font in a catchweight bout of 140 pounds.[5]
The Ultimate Fighter: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia women's strawweight winnerTatiana Suarez andVirna Jandiroba were scheduled to meet in a women's strawweight bout.[6] However on June 20, it was announced that Jandiroba pulled out due to a knee injury and was replaced by formerUFC Women's Strawweight ChampionJéssica Andrade.[7]
Tagir Ulanbekov and Jake Hadley were expected to meet in a flyweight bout at this event.[8] However, Ulanbekov withdrew due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced byCody Durden.[9]
A bantamweight bout betweenSaid Nurmagomedov andKyler Phillips was expected to take place at the event.[10] However, Nurmagomedov withdrew for unknown reasons and was replaced byRaoni Barcelos.[11]
A light heavyweight bout betweenOvince Saint Preux andIon Cuțelaba was expected to take place at the event.[12] However, the bout was cancelled on July 20 for unknown reasons.[13]
Sean Woodson andSteve Garcia were expected to meet in a featherweight bout at the event.[14] However, the bout was scrapped after Garcia got injured and Woodson was booked against Jesse Butler.[15] In turn, Butler was removed by theNevada Athletic Commission during fight week due to a recent knockout loss two months earlier.[16] He was replaced by promotional newcomer Mairon Santos.[17] However, due to visa issues, Santos was removed from the bout and replaced with promotional newcomer Dennis Buzukja.[18] At the weigh-ins, Buzukja weighed in at 146.5 pounds, half a pound over the featherweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at catchweight and he was fined 20 percent of his purse, which went to Woodson.[19]
| Main card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Catchweight (140 lb) | Cory Sandhagen | def. | Rob Font | Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 50–45, 50–45) | 5 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Tatiana Suarez | def. | Jéssica Andrade | Submission (guillotine choke) | 2 | 1:31 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Dustin Jacoby | def. | Kennedy Nzechukwu | TKO (punches) | 1 | 1:22 | |
| Featherweight | Diego Lopes | def. | Gavin Tucker | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 1:38 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Tanner Boser | def. | Aleksa Camur | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Ľudovít Klein | def. | Ignacio Bahamondes | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN/ ESPN+) | |||||||
| Bantamweight | Kyler Phillips | def. | Raoni Barcelos | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Carlston Harris | def. | Jeremiah Wells | Technical Submission (anaconda choke) | 3 | 1:50 | |
| Featherweight | Billy Quarantillo | def. | Damon Jackson | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Flyweight | Cody Durden | def. | Jake Hadley | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Catchweight (146.5 lb) | Sean Woodson | def. | Dennis Buzukja | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Flyweight | Asu Almabayev | def. | Ode' Osbourne | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 3:11 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[21]
