UFC 289
UFC 289: Nunes vs. Aldana was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on June 10, 2023, at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[2] BackgroundThe event marked the promotion's 32nd overall visit to Canada and sixth to Vancouver, returning to the country for the first time since UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Gaethje in September 2019.[2] A UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship trilogy bout between current two-time champion (also current UFC Women's Featherweight Champion) Amanda Nunes and former champion (also The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate bantamweight winner) Julianna Peña was expected to headline the event.[3] However on May 2, Peña pulled out due to broken ribs and was replaced by Irene Aldana, who was scheduled to headline UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Hill in a rematch against former title challenger Raquel Pennington.[4] The latter served as a backup for the title bout.[5] A lightweight bout between former UFC Lightweight Champion Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush took place as the co-main event.[6] They were originally booked at UFC 288, but Oliveira withdrew due to injury.[7] A middleweight bout between Chris Curtis and Nassourdine Imavov took place at the event. The two fighters were scheduled to face each other pre-UFC at ARES FC 2 in October 2020, but the event was canceled due to COVID-19 complications.[8] A welterweight bout between former UFC Welterweight Championship challenger Stephen Thompson and Michel Pereira was expected for this event.[9] However, contracts were never signed and the bout is expected to take place at UFC 291 instead.[10][11] Matt Schnell and David Dvořák were scheduled to meet in a flyweight bout on the preliminary card.[12] However, Schnell pulled out due to injury and was replaced by Stephen Erceg.[13] A featherweight bout between Hakeem Dawodu and Lucas Almeida was expected to take place at the event.[14] However, the bout was scrapped for unknown reasons and Almeida was instead scheduled to face Pat Sabatini at UFC on ESPN: Vettori vs. Cannonier.[15] Chris Daukaus was expected to make his light heavyweight debut against Khalil Rountree Jr. at the event.[16] However, Daukaus withdrew in early June due to injury.[17] The bout was rescheduled for UFC on ESPN: Luque vs. dos Anjos.[18] Results
Bonus awardsThe following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[20]
See alsoReferences
|