UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 14, 2019 at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.[2][3]

UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington
The poster for UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington
PromotionUltimate Fighting Championship
DateDecember 14, 2019 (2019-12-14)
VenueT-Mobile Arena
CityParadise, Nevada, United States
Attendance16,811[1]
Total gate$4,041,119.14[1]
Event chronology
UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. The Korean Zombie

Background

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A UFC Welterweight Championship bout between the current champion and The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians winner Kamaru Usman and former interim champion Colby Covington served as the event headliner.[4]

A UFC Featherweight Championship bout between the current champion Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski took place as the co-main event.[5]

A UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship bout between the current champion Amanda Nunes (also the current UFC Women's Featherweight Champion) and the inaugural featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie also took place at the event.[6] The pairing previously met in November 2013 at UFC: Fight for the Troops 3, with Nunes winning the encounter via TKO in the first round.[7]

Santiago Ponzinibbio was expected to face former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler at the event. However, Ponzinibbio pulled out of the fight on October 12 citing a staph infection. Despite having over two months before the event, promotion officials elected to remove Lawler from the card entirely instead of having him face a replacement.[8]

Sergio Pettis was briefly linked to a bout with Kai Kara-France at the event.[9] However, Pettis revealed in early October that he was entertaining offers from other promotions after the completion of his previous contract and did not currently have a fight lined up with the promotion.[10] Kara-France ultimately faced Brandon Moreno.[11]

At the weigh-ins, former UFC Women's Flyweight Championship challenger Jessica Eye failed to make weight, coming in at 131 pounds, five pounds over the flyweight non-title fight limit of 126 pounds. She was fined 30% of her fight purse, which went to her opponent Viviane Araújo and the bout proceeded at a catchweight.[12]

Results

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Main Card
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Welterweight Kamaru Usman (c) def. Colby Covington TKO (punches) 5 4:10 [a]
Featherweight Alexander Volkanovski def. Max Holloway (c) Decision (unanimous) (48–47, 48–47, 50–45) 5 5:00 [b]
Women's Bantamweight Amanda Nunes (c) def. Germaine de Randamie Decision (unanimous) (49–44, 49–46, 49–45) 5 5:00 [c]
Bantamweight Marlon Moraes def. José Aldo Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) 3 5:00
Bantamweight Petr Yan def. Urijah Faber KO (head kick) 3 0:43
Preliminary Card (ESPN2)
Welterweight Geoff Neal def. Mike Perry TKO (head kick and punches) 1 1:30
Women's Bantamweight Irene Aldana def. Ketlen Vieira KO (punches) 1 4:51
Middleweight Omari Akhmedov def. Ian Heinisch Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) 3 5:00
Welterweight Matt Brown def. Ben Saunders KO (elbows and punches) 2 4:55
Early Preliminary card (UFC Fight Pass)
Featherweight Chase Hooper def. Daniel Teymur TKO (elbows and punches) 1 4:34
Flyweight Brandon Moreno def. Kai Kara-France Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 29–28) 3 5:00
Catchweight (131 lb) Jessica Eye def. Viviane Araújo Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) 3 5:00
Middleweight Punahele Soriano def. Oskar Piechota KO (punch) 1 3:17

[13]

Bonus awards

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The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[1]

  • Fight of the Night: Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington
  • Performance of the Night: Petr Yan and Irene Aldana

Reported payout

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The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. It does not include sponsor money and also does not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses. The total disclosed payout for the event was $4,084,000.[14]

  • Kamaru Usman: $500,000 (no win bonus) def. Colby Covington: $500,000
  • Alexander Volkanovski: $250,000 (no win bonus) def. Max Holloway: $350,000
  • Amanda Nunes: $450,000 (includes $100,000 win bonus) def. Germaine de Randamie: $100,000
  • Marlon Moraes: $220,000 (includes $110,000 win bonus) def. José Aldo: $400,000
  • Petr Yan: $132,000 (includes $66,000 win bonus) def. Urijah Faber: $250,000
  • Geoff Neal: $62,000 (includes $31,000 win bonus) def. Mike Perry: $90,000
  • Irene Aldana: $80,000 (includes $40,000 win bonus) def. Ketlen Vieira: $33,000
  • Omari Akhmedov: $110,000 (includes $55,000 win bonus) def. Ian Heinisch: $25,000
  • Matt Brown: $160,000 (includes $80,000 win bonus) def. Ben Saunders: $35,000
  • Chase Hooper: $48,000 (includes $24,000 win bonus) def. Daniel Teymur: $18,000
  • Brandon Moreno: $62,000 (includes $31,000 win bonus) def. Kai Kara-France: $25,000
  • Jessica Eye: $96,000 (includes $48,000 win bonus) def. Viviane Araújo: $45,000
  • Puna Soriano: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Oskar Piechota: $20,000

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Fernando Quiles Jr. (2019-12-15). "UFC 245 bonuses, live gate, & attendance revealed". mmanews.com. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  2. ^ Guilherme Cruz (2019-07-08). "UFC announces fourth quarter schedule for 2019". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2019-07-08.
  3. ^ Redactie (2019-07-08). "The UFC announces events for Moscow, Singapore, Busan and more". mmadna.nl. Retrieved 2019-07-08. (in Dutch)
  4. ^ Thomas Gerbasi (2019-10-01). "Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington to headline UFC 245". ufc.com. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  5. ^ Alexander K. Lee (2019-09-21). "Max Holloway vs. Alexander Volkanovski set for UFC 245". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
  6. ^ Nolan King (2019-08-17). "Amanda Nunes to defend bantamweight title vs. Germaine de Randamie at UFC 245". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  7. ^ Steven Marrocco (2013-11-06). "UFC Fight Night 31 results, photos: Amanda Nunes pounds out Germaine De Randamie". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  8. ^ Nick Baldwin (2019-10-12). "Santiago Ponzinibbio out of UFC 245 fight vs. Robbie Lawler". bloodyelbow.com. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  9. ^ Marvin France (2019-09-29). "Kiwi Kai Kara-France books fight against Sergio Pettis at UFC 245 in Las Vegas". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  10. ^ Jesse Holland (2019-10-03). "Free agency puts Sergio Pettis vs Kai Kara-France 'on hold' for UFC 245". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  11. ^ Christopher Rieve (2019-10-04). "Kai Kara-France to fight Brandon Moreno at UFC 245, Sergio Pettis now testing free agency". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  12. ^ Jon Fuentes (2019-12-13). "UFC 245 weigh-in results: all but one fighter makes weight". lowkickmma.com. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  13. ^ "UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington". Ultimate Fighting Championship. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  14. ^ Nolan King (2019-12-16). "UFC 245 salaries: Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington top list of disclosed paydays". mmajunkie.com.