UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Lawler
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mixed martial arts promotion |
| Founded | November 12, 1993 |
| Headquarters | Las Vegas , United States |
| Products | Mixed martial arts events |
| Website | www |
UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Lawler—also referred to as UFC on ESPN 5—was a mixed martial arts competition organized by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 3, 2019. The event took place at the Prudential Center located in Newark, New Jersey.
Background
Initially, this event was set to occur in Sochi, Russia, which would have been UFC’s inaugural appearance in the Black Sea area. However, after the initial plans were canceled, alternative venues such as Manchester and Tampa, Florida were considered. Ultimately, the organization decided to host the event in Northern New Jersey, marking its eighth event at the Prudential Center and the first return since January 2016.
The main attraction was a welterweight clash featuring former interim welterweight titleholder Colby Covington against ex-undisputed champion Robbie Lawler.
A welterweight contest between Cláudio Silva and Ramazan Emeev was rescheduled for this card after Silva had to pull out from their originally planned 2018 matchup due to injury. Nevertheless, Emeev was forced to withdraw because of visa complications and was substituted by debutant Cole Williams. Williams failed to make weight, coming in at 176 pounds, which led to a 30% fine on his fight purse and the bout proceeding at catchweight.
The women's flyweight matchup featuring former Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion Lauren Murphy versus Mara Romero Borella was transferred from UFC 240 to this event.
A light heavyweight bout between Ilir Latifi and former title contender Volkan Oezdemir was initially booked for UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Smith but canceled due to Latifi’s injury. This fight was rescheduled for this event but subsequently moved again to UFC Fight Night: Shevchenko vs. Carmouche 2 because of Oezdemir’s visa issues.
Zelim Imadaev was originally slated for a welterweight fight but was replaced by Mickey Gall, who instead faced Salim Touahri. No official explanation was provided for this alteration.
At the weigh-ins, Dong Hyun Ma exceeded the lightweight limit by two pounds and incurred a 20% penalty on his purse; his matchup with Scott Holtzman proceeded as a catchweight bout.
Bonus awards
Monetary bonuses of $50,000 were awarded for exceptional performances:
- Fight of the Night: Antonina Shevchenko vs. Lucie Pudilová
- Performance of the Night: Nasrat Haqparast and Matt Schnell