UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Gastelum
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mixed martial arts promotion |
| Founded | November 12, 1993 |
| Headquarters | Enterprise, Nevada , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Dana White (president) |
| Products | Mixed martial arts events |
| Website | www |
UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Gastelum—also referred to as UFC on ESPN 22 and UFC Vegas 24'—was a mixed martial arts competition organized by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 17, 2021. The event took place at the UFC Apex facility located in Enterprise, Nevada, within the Las Vegas metropolitan region.
Background
Initially, the headline fight was planned as a middleweight clash between former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker and ex-title contender Paulo Costa. However, Costa withdrew on March 16 due to a severe case of the flu, prompting the inclusion of former interim title challenger Kelvin Gastelum as his replacement. Gastelum had been previously scheduled to challenge Whittaker for the championship in 2019 but had to pull out because of emergency surgery.
In the bantamweight division, a matchup between Tony Gravely and Nate Maness was altered after Maness withdrew for undisclosed reasons. He was substituted by Anthony Birchak.
A women's strawweight contest featuring former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion and UFC title challenger Jessica Penne against Hannah Goldy was originally postponed from UFC 260 due to Goldy testing positive for COVID-19. After being rescheduled for this event, Goldy withdrew once again a week before the fight and was replaced by promotional debutant Lupita Godinez.
In heavyweight competition, Parker Porter pulled out and was replaced by former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski, who faced off against Chase Sherman.
Lightweight newcomer Natan Levy was slated to compete against Austin Hubbard but withdrew due to injury. Hubbard instead faced promotional newcomer Dakota Bush.
A bantamweight bout between Ricardo Ramos and Bill Algeo was canceled after Ramos tested positive for COVID-19. This fight was later rescheduled for UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Garbrandt.
During weigh-ins, Tracy Cortez came in half a pound over the limit, converting her bout into a catchweight contest and incurring a fine paid to opponent Justine Kish. Conversely, Zarah Fairn Dos Santos missed weight by eight pounds for her catchweight fight against Josiane Nunes, leading to the cancellation of that bout.
The lightweight co-main event featuring Jeremy Stephens versus Drakkar Klose was called off just hours before the event after Klose withdrew due to injuries sustained during an altercation at the weigh-ins.
Bonus awards
Monetary bonuses of $50,000 were awarded to:
- Fight of the Night: Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum
- Performance of the Night: Gerald Meerschaert and Tony Gravely