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UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Harris

From Alfawiki
Ultimate Fighting Championship
IndustryMixed martial arts promotion
FoundedNovember 12, 1993; 32 years ago (1993-11-12)
FounderArt Davie, Rorion Gracie
Headquarters
Las Vegas
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Dana White (President)
ProductsMixed martial arts events
Websitewww.ufc.com

UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Harris, also referred to as UFC on ESPN 8, was a mixed martial arts event organized by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on May 16, 2020. The competition took place at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena located in Jacksonville, Florida, United States.[1] Initially, this event was scheduled as a Fight Night on ESPN+ at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California,[2] but was relocated due to complications arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 9, UFC president Dana White announced an indefinite postponement of all upcoming events starting with UFC 249.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name Subsequently, on April 24, the event was confirmed to proceed in Jacksonville on its original date.[1]

Background

The promotion first aimed to headline the card with a lightweight clash featuring former interim UFC Lightweight Champion Dustin Poirier against Dan Hooker.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name However, by April 8, the main event was revised to a heavyweight matchup between former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion and UFC Heavyweight Championship contender Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name This fight had been scheduled previously for December 7, 2019, but Harris withdrew following the tragic disappearance and subsequent death of his stepdaughter.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad nameCite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name They were later rebooked to headline an April 11 event that was ultimately canceled due to the pandemic.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name

Punahele Soriano was initially set to compete against Anthony Hernandez, but Soriano pulled out for undisclosed reasons; Hernandez subsequently faced Kevin Holland.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name

Due to travel restrictions linked to the COVID-19 crisis, visa complications prevented several Brazilian fighters from participating. Notably, Lara Procópio (originally matched with Cortney Casey) as well as former KSW Women's Flyweight Champion Ariane Lipski and Luana Carolina were removed from the fight card.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name

COVID-19 pandemic

The event was originally planned to be held at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California. However, after the California Department of Consumer Affairs extended its ban on combat sports through May due to COVID-19 concerns, the venue became unavailable. Consequently, the UFC officially canceled the event’s California location on April 20. On April 24, UFC rescheduled UFC 249 for May 9 in Jacksonville, Florida, and added two more events at the same venue on May 13 and May 16.

On May 1, UFC confirmed that Overeem vs. Harris would serve as the main event for UFC 249, which was broadcast on ESPN. The fight card included athletes from previously canceled events such as:

  • A middleweight contest between Eryk Anders and Krzysztof Jotko.
  • A heavyweight bout featuring Rodrigo Nascimento against Don'Tale Mayes.

Fights originally booked but postponed included flyweight Alex Perez vs. Kai Kara-France and featherweight Jared Gordon vs. Matt Sayles.

Mike Davis was slated to face Giga Chikadze but was replaced by promotional newcomer Irwin Rivera on May 14.

Bonus awards

Competitors were awarded $50,000 bonuses:

  • Fight of the Night: Song Yadong vs. Marlon Vera
  • Performance of the Night: Miguel Baeza and Cortney Casey

Reported fighter compensation

The total disclosed fighter compensation amounted to $1,599,000, not including sponsorship earnings or the customary UFC performance bonuses:

  • Alistair Overeem: $400,000 defeated Walt Harris: $75,000
  • Cláudia Gadelha: $108,000 defeated Angela Hill: $54,000
  • Dan Ige: $100,000 defeated Edson Barboza: $79,000
  • Krzysztof Jotko: $108,000 defeated Eryk Anders: $61,000
  • Song Yadong: $96,000 defeated Marlon Vera: $65,000
  • Miguel Baeza: $24,000 defeated Matt Brown: $85,000
  • Kevin Holland: $52,000 defeated Anthony Hernandez: $12,000
  • Giga Chikadze: $28,000 defeated Irwin Rivera: $14,000
  • Nate Landwehr: $26,000 defeated Darren Elkins: $62,000
  • Cortney Casey: $100,000 defeated Mara Romero Borella: $20,000
  • Rodrigo Nascimento: $20,000 defeated Don'Tale Mayes: $10,000

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named newUFC249
  2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named SanDiego
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