UFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Teixeira
| Industry | Mixed martial arts promotion |
|---|---|
| Founded | November 12, 1993 |
| Headquarters | Las Vegas , United States |
| Products | Mixed martial arts events |
| Website | www |
UFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Teixeira—also referred to as UFC on ESPN 17 and UFC Vegas 13'—was a mixed martial arts competition organized by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 7, 2020. The event took place at the UFC Apex venue located in Enterprise, Nevada, United States.
Background
The main event featured a light heavyweight clash between former UFC Light Heavyweight Championship contenders Thiago Santos and Glover Teixeira. This matchup was initially slated for UFC Fight Night: Waterson vs. Hill but was postponed twice due to both athletes testing positive for COVID-19.
A middleweight contest between Ian Heinisch and Brendan Allen was rescheduled for this card after being canceled previously because of an injury to Heinisch. However, it was canceled once more on the day of the event after Heinisch tested positive for COVID-19.
The strawweight bout involving former title challenger Cláudia Gadelha and Yan Xiaonan was moved from UFC 253 owing to a knee injury sustained by Gadelha.
A lightweight fight between Carlos Diego Ferreira and Drew Dober, originally intended for May but called off due to the pandemic, was booked for this event but later removed after Ferreira withdrew due to illness.
Former Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski faced off against Tanner Boser in a bout shifted from an earlier card because of Arlovski’s illness.
Heavyweight fighters Marcos Rogério de Lima and Alexander Romanov competed after Lima had to pull out from a previous event following a COVID-19 diagnosis.
Philipe Lins was scheduled to fight Don'Tale Mayes, but Lins withdrew with a knee injury. Subsequently, Mayes was matched with Roque Martinez at a later event.
A featherweight bout between Jeremy Stephens and Arnold Allen was canceled after Stephens withdrew due to injury; no substitute opponent was secured.
In bantamweight action, after original competitor Jack Shore withdrew for undisclosed reasons, Khalid Taha faced replacement opponent Raoni Barcelos.
Felipe Colares exited his bantamweight matchup against Gustavo Lopez following a positive COVID-19 test and was replaced by veteran fighter Anthony Birchak.
The bantamweight fight between Sarah Moras and Vanessa Melo was postponed because of Moras’ positive COVID-19 result and rescheduled for a future event.
Bonus awards
The following competitors were awarded $50,000 bonuses:
- Fight of the Night: Raoni Barcelos vs. Khalid Taha
- Performance of the Night: Giga Chikadze and Alexandr Romanov