UFC mixed martial arts event in 2023
UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Hill (also known as UFC Fight Night 223 , UFC Vegas 73 , and UFC on ESPN+ 81 ) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on May 20, 2023, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada , part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area , United States.[ 2] [ 3]
Background
A women's bantamweight rematch between former UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship challenger Raquel Pennington and Irene Aldana was expected to headline the event.[ 4] The pair previously met at UFC on ESPN: dos Anjos vs. Edwards in 2019 which Pennington won by split decision.[ 5] They were also briefly expected to headline UFC on ESPN: Vera vs. Sandhagen , but the bout never materialized.[ 6] In turn, Aldana was pulled from the contest in early May in order to serve as a replacement in a UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship bout against current champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 289 .[ 7] Pennington will serve as a backup for that event.[ 8]
As a result, a women's strawweight bout between Mackenzie Dern and former Invicta FC Strawweight Champion Angela Hill was moved from UFC on ABC: Rozenstruik vs. Almeida one week prior to instead headline this event.[ 9]
A women's strawweight bout between former Invicta FC Strawweight Champion Emily Ducote and Polyana Viana was originally scheduled for UFC Fight Night: Song vs. Simón .[ 10] The pairing was eventually rescheduled for this event for undisclosed reasons.[ 11] In turn, Viana withdrew from the bout and was replaced by former LFA Women's Strawweight Champion Lupita Godinez at a catchweight of 120 pounds.[ 12]
A middleweight bout between Abdul Razak Alhassan and Brunno Ferreira was expected to take place at this event.[ 13] However, the bout was moved to UFC on ESPN: Strickland vs. Magomedov for unknown reasons.[ 14]
A flyweight bout between Clayton Carpenter and Stephen Erceg was expected to take place at this event, but it was postponed due Erceg having visa issues.[ 15]
At the weigh-ins, Vanessa Demopoulos and Orion Cosce missed weight. Demopoulos weighed in at 117.5 pounds and Cosce weighed in at 172.5 pounds, both one and half pounds over the women's strawweight and welterweight non-title fights limit respectively. Both bouts proceeded at catchweight with both being fined 20 percent of their purses, which went to their opponents: former UFC Women's Strawweight Championship challenger (also former KSW Women's Flyweight Champion ) Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Gilbert Urbina respectively.[ 16]
Results
Main Card (ESPN+)
Weight class
Method
Round
Time
Notes
Women's Strawweight
Mackenzie Dern
def.
Angela Hill
Decision (unanimous) (49–43, 49–44, 49–44)
5
5:00
Middleweight
Anthony Hernandez
def.
Edmen Shahbazyan
TKO (elbows and punches)
3
1:01
Catchweight (120 lb)
Lupita Godinez
def.
Emily Ducote
Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28)
3
5:00
Welterweight
Joaquin Buckley
def.
André Fialho
TKO (head kick)
2
4:15
Lightweight
Carlos Diego Ferreira
def.
Michael Johnson
KO (punch)
2
1:50
Preliminary Card (ESPN+)
Lightweight
Viacheslav Borshchev
def.
Hayisaer Maheshate
TKO (punches)
2
2:37
Catchweight (117.5 lb)
Karolina Kowalkiewicz
def.
Vanessa Demopoulos
Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)
3
5:00
Catchweight (172.5 lb)
Gilbert Urbina
def.
Orion Cosce
TKO (front kick and knees)
2
2:55
Heavyweight
Rodrigo Nascimento
def.
Ilir Latifi
Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28)
3
5:00
Lightweight
Chase Hooper
def.
Nick Fiore
Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–27, 30–27)
3
5:00
Women's Flyweight
Natália Silva
def.
Victoria Leonardo
TKO (punches and head kick)
1
2:58
Welterweight
Themba Gorimbo
def.
Takashi Sato
Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)
3
5:00
[ 17]
Bonus awards
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[ 18]
Fight of the Night: Mackenzie Dern vs. Angela Hill
Performance of the Night: Carlos Diego Ferreira and Viacheslav Borschev
See also
References
Upcoming events are in italics
Flagship events Fight Nights (on Spike TV) UFC on Versus/UFC Live UFC on Fox UFC on FX UFC on Fuel TV Fight Nights (on FS1, FS2, FXX, or UFC Fight Pass) UFC on ESPN (or ESPN2) Fight Nights (on ESPN+) UFC on ABC The Ultimate Fighter Finales