UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie

UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie (also known as UFC Fight Night 180, UFC on ESPN+ 38 and UFC Fight Island 6) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 18, 2020 at the du Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.[2][3]

UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie
The poster for UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie
Information
PromotionUltimate Fighting Championship
DateOctober 18, 2020 (2020-10-18)
Venuedu Forum
CityAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
AttendanceNone (behind closed doors)[1]
Event chronology
UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie UFC 254: Khabib vs. Gaethje

Background

Without fans in attendance, the promotion did not have to make consideration for the local timing of the event, so the plan was to proceed with normal timing for prime time hours on the east coast of North America. The main card was scheduled to begin at 3:00 am (October 18) local time in Abu Dhabi, with a full preliminary card beginning at approximately 12:00 am Gulf Standard Time.[4]

A featherweight bout between former UFC Featherweight Championship challengers Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung served as the event headliner.[5] The duo were previously scheduled to main event UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. The Korean Zombie in December 2019.[6] However, Ortega pulled out of the fight with a knee injury and was replaced by former UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar.[7]

A women's flyweight bout between former UFC Women's Strawweight Champion Jéssica Andrade and former UFC Women's Flyweight Championship challenger Jessica Eye was briefly linked to the event.[8] However, the pairing never materialized due to lingering injuries for Eye. Andrade faced another former flyweight title challenger in Katlyn Chookagian instead.[9]

A heavyweight bout between Ciryl Gane and Shamil Abdurakhimov was expected to take place at this event.[10][11] The pairing was originally scheduled for UFC 249, but Gane was forced to pull out of the event after he suffered a pneumothorax in training.[12] Subsequently, the pairing was rescheduled and cancelled on three other occasions for various reasons. First at UFC 251, then briefly for UFC 253 and UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley.[13] The bout fell through once again as Abdurakhimov pulled out due to undisclosed reasons on September 28 and Gane was expected to face promotional newcomer Ante Delija.[14] However, that bout was also cancelled on October 14 due to contractual issues with Delija, seemingly related to his previous deal with the PFL.[15]

A lightweight bout between Renato Moicano and Magomed Mustafaev was scheduled for the event, but Moicano withdrew on September 15 due to personal reasons.[16][17] He was replaced by former KSW Featherweight and Lightweight Champion Mateusz Gamrot.[18] In turn, Mustafaev pulled out in early October due to undisclosed reasons.[19][20] Gamrot faced fellow promotional newcomer Guram Kutateladze instead.[21]

A light heavyweight bout between former UFC Light Heavyweight Championship challenger Volkan Oezdemir and Nikita Krylov was briefly linked to the event. However, Oezdemir pulled out of the fight in early October citing a knee injury.[19] A replacement could not be found and Krylov was removed from the card.[22]

Muslim Salikhov was expected to face Cláudio Silva in a welterweight bout at the event. However, it was announced on October 4 that Salikhov pulled out due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by James Krause.[23]

A middleweight bout between Krzysztof Jotko and Makhmud Muradov was briefly scheduled to take place at this event, before being moved two weeks later to UFC Fight Night: Hall vs. Silva.[24]

Mounir Lazzez was expected to face David Zawada in a welterweight bout at the event. However, it was reported on October 6 that Lazzez tested positive for COVID-19 and would not compete. In turn, Zawada was removed from the card.[25]

Results
Main card (ESPN+)
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Featherweight Brian Ortega def. Chan Sung Jung Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 50–45, 50–45) 5 5:00
Women’s Flyweight Jéssica Andrade def. Katlyn Chookagian TKO (body punches) 1 4:57
Light Heavyweight Jimmy Crute def. Modestas Bukauskas KO (punches) 1 2:01
Welterweight James Krause def. Cláudio Silva Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) 3 5:00
Featherweight Jonathan Martinez def. Thomas Almeida Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) 3 5:00
Preliminary card (ESPN+)
Lightweight Guram Kutateladze def. Mateusz Gamrot Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) 3 5:00
Women's Flyweight Gillian Robertson def. Poliana Botelho Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–27, 29–27) 3 5:00
Middleweight Jun Yong Park def. John Phillips Decision (unanimous) (30–25, 30–25, 30–25) 3 5:00
Lightweight Farès Ziam def. Jamie Mullarkey Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) 3 5:00
Light Heavyweight Maxim Grishin def. Gadzhimurad Antigulov TKO (punches) 2 4:58
Bantamweight Said Nurmagomedov def. Mark Striegl KO (punches) 1 0:51

    [26]

    Bonus awards

    The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[27]

    • Fight of the Night: Guram Kutateladze vs. Mateusz Gamrot
    • Performance of the Night: Jéssica Andrade and Jimmy Crute

    See also

    References
    1. Marc Williams (2020-09-14). "UFC schedule 2020: Every upcoming event including Israel Adesanya's UFC 253 fight in Abu Dhabi and Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin Gaethje". talksport.com. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
    2. Guilherme Cruz (2020-09-04). "UFC 253 kicks off Fight Island return in Abu Dhabi". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
    3. Brett Okamoto (2020-09-04). "Sources: UFC 253, 254 to be held at Fight Island". espn.com. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
    4. Press Release (2020-09-17). "UFC Fight Island - Everything you need to know". ufc.com. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
    5. Ariel Helwani (2020-08-15). "Brian Ortega-Chan Sung Jung to headline UFC Fight Night on Oct. 17". espn.com. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
    6. Nolan King (2019-09-23). "Brian Ortega vs. Chan Sung Jung to headline UFC on ESPN+ 23 in South Korea". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
    7. Damon Martin (2019-12-05). "Brian Ortega out of UFC Busan main event against 'Korean Zombie' Chan Sung Jung". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
    8. Jay Pettry (2020-07-31). "Jessica Andrade moves to flyweight, to take on Jessica Eye at Oct. 17 card". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
    9. Nolan King and John Morgan (2020-08-29). "UFC targets Jessica Andrade vs. Katlyn Chookagian for Oct. 17". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
    10. Staff (2020-09-09). "Cyril Gane vs Shamil Abdurakhimov rebooked for October 17". boxemag.com. Retrieved 2020-09-09. (in French)
    11. Clyde Aidoo (2020-08-25). "Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Ciryl Gane announced for Sep. 19". mmanews.com. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
    12. Guilherme Cruz (2020-03-05). "Ciryl Gane out of UFC 249 fight with Shamil Abdurakhimov". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
    13. Farah Hannoun (2020-07-15). "With Sergei Pavlovich out, Ciryl Gane vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov targeted for Sept. 19 UFC event". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
    14. Staff (2020-09-28). "UFC - New opponent for Ciryl Gane on October 17th!". lasueur.com. Retrieved 2020-09-28. (in French)
    15. Farah Hannoun and John Morgan (2020-10-14). "Ciryl Gane vs. Ante Delija off Saturday's UFC on ESPN+ 38 card". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-10-14.
    16. Guilherme Cruz (2020-09-15). "Renato Moicano withdraws from Fight Island clash with Magomed Mustafaev". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
    17. Guilherme Cruz (2020-09-23). "Renato Moicano explains why he's no longer fighting on Fight Island". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
    18. Steve Duncan (2020-09-16). "Moicano out, Mateusz Gamrot faces Magomed Mustafaev in the October 17 event". mma.uno. Retrieved 2020-09-17. (in Spanish)
    19. Staff (2020-10-01). "Canceled four fights for various UFC events in Abu Dhabi". mmadna.nl. Retrieved 2020-10-01. (in Dutch)
    20. Maciej Święch (2020-10-02). "Mateusz Gamrot is waiting for the winner: I've fired the hardest part of it if it all happened". mma.pl. Retrieved 2020-10-04. (in Polish)
    21. Staff (2020-10-06). "Guram Kutateladze replaces Magomed Mustafaev against Mateusz Gamrot". mmadna.nl. Retrieved 2020-10-06. (in Dutch)
    22. Staff (2020-10-08). "Nikita Krylov will not fight on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi". fighttime.ru. Retrieved 2020-10-08. (in Russian)
    23. Mike Heck (2020-10-04). "With Muslim Salikhov out, James Krause steps in to face Claudio Silva at UFC's Fight Island event on Oct. 17". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2020-10-04.
    24. Bohuslav Sedláček (2020-10-06). "The match of Makhmuda Muradova in the UFC is approaching". sportyzive.cz. Retrieved 2020-10-06. (in Czech)
    25. John McAuley (2020-10-07). "UFC Fight Night: Mounir Lazzez withdraws after testing positive for coronavirus". thenational.ae. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
    26. "UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie". Ultimate Fighting Championship. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
    27. Ryan Galloway (2020-10-17). "UFC Fight Island 6 bonuses". lowkickmma.com. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
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