UFC on ESPN: Makhachev vs. Moisés
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mixed martial arts promotion |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | Enterprise, Nevada , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Mixed martial arts events |
| Website | www |
UFC on ESPN: Makhachev vs. Moisés—also referred to as UFC on ESPN 26 and UFC Vegas 31—was a mixed martial arts competition organized by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 17, 2021, at the UFC Apex facility located in Enterprise, Nevada, within the Las Vegas metropolitan region.
Background
Initially, a featherweight main event featuring former UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway against The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America victor Yair Rodríguez was scheduled. However, Holloway withdrew due to injury concerns. Consequently, the headline bout was substituted with a lightweight clash between Islam Makhachev and Thiago Moisés.
This card also included a women's bantamweight matchup marking the return of former Strikeforce and UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate, who came out of retirement to compete against Marion Reneau. Tate’s return aimed to strategically reestablish her standing within the bantamweight division.
A lightweight fight between Guram Kutateladze and Don Madge was planned for this event after Kutateladze had to pull out from a previous engagement due to injury. Nevertheless, this bout was ultimately canceled again because of ongoing injury and visa complications.
The heavyweight contest featuring Rodrigo Nascimento and Alan Baudot was moved to this event following Baudot’s injury-related postponement of their original matchup.
Featherweights Herbert Burns and Billy Quarantillo were scheduled to face off; however, Burns withdrew after sustaining a torn ACL and was replaced by Gabriel Benítez.
A flyweight bout between Ode Osbourne and Amir Albazi was called off when Albazi withdrew because of injury. Osbourne was later booked for a different event.
Middleweight fighters Phil Hawes and Deron Winn were set to compete, but Winn’s injury led to their fight being rescheduled for October.
Welterweight Abubakar Nurmagomedov pulled out of his fight against Daniel Rodriguez due to injury, resulting in Rodriguez facing promotional newcomer Preston Parsons instead.
A bantamweight contest between Miles Johns and Anderson dos Santos was removed just hours before the event commenced because dos Santos’ team was affected by COVID-19 protocols.
Bonus awards
The following athletes were awarded $50,000 bonuses:
- Fight of the Night: Billy Quarantillo vs. Gabriel Benítez
- Performance of the Night: Miesha Tate, Mateusz Gamrot, Rodolfo Vieira, and Rodrigo Nascimento
Aftermath
On September 22, the Nevada Athletic Commission revealed that Rodrigo Nascimento tested positive for ritalinic acid. As a consequence, he received a six-month suspension retroactive to the date of testing along with a $1,945.36 fine covering violation penalties and legal expenses. Additionally, his victory was overturned to a no contest. In August 2022, Nascimento secured a three-year therapeutic use exemption (TUE) authorizing legitimate medical use of the substance starting November 12. However, since Nevada does not allow retroactive TUEs, he must appeal to have the original result reinstated and obtain prior approval from other athletic commissions for competing outside Nevada.