UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs. Lewis

UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs. Lewis
UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs. Lewis
	The poster for UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs. Lewis
Information
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	November 4, 2023
Venue	Ginásio do Ibirapuera
City	São Paulo, Brazil
Attendance	10,792
Event chronology

UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs. Lewis (also known as UFC Fight Night 231 and UFC on ESPN+ 89) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 4, 2023, at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil.^[2]

Background

The event marked the promotion's ninth visit to São Paulo and first since UFC Fight Night: Błachowicz vs. Jacaré in November 2019.^[2]

The event was expected to be headlined by a heavyweight bout between Curtis Blaydes and Jailton Almeida.^[3] However, Blaydes withdrew for unknown reasons and was replaced by former UFC Heavyweight Championship challenger Derrick Lewis.^[4]

A women's strawweight bout between Eduarda Moura and Kim So-yul was scheduled for the event.^[5] However, Kim was removed from the event for undisclosed reasons and replaced by Montserrat Ruiz.^[6] At the weigh-ins, Moura weighed in at 119.5 pounds, three and a half pounds over the strawweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at catchweight and she was fined 30% of her purse which went to Ruiz.^[7]

A middleweight bout between Caio Borralho and Nursulton Ruziboev was expected to take place at the event.^[8] However, Ruziboev withdrew for unknown reasons and was replaced by Abus Magomedov.^[9]

A bantamweight bout between Daniel Santos and Daniel Marcos was expected to take place at the event.^[10] However, Santos pulled out due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by promotional newcomer Victor Hugo.^[11] However, the bout was scrapped after Hugo weighed in at 138.5 pounds, two and a half pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit.^[7]

A featherweight bout between Lucas Alexander and David Onama was scheduled to take place in the preliminary card.^[12] However, the bout was cancelled after Onama suffered an injury.^[13]

At the weigh-ins, Ismael Bonfim weighed in at 159.5 pounds, three and a half pounds over the lightweight non-title fight limit. As a result, his scheduled bout with Vinc Pichel was scrapped.^[7]

A middleweight bout between Rodolfo Vieira and Armen Petrosyan was scheduled to take place on the main card, but it was scrapped after Petrosyan became ill backstage during the event.^[14]

Results

Main card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Heavyweight	Jailton Almeida	def.	Derrick Lewis	Decision (unanimous) (50–44, 50–44, 50–45)	5	5:00
Welterweight	Nicolas Dalby	def.	Gabriel Bonfim	TKO (knees and punches)	2	4:33
Heavyweight	Rodrigo Nascimento	def.	Don'Tale Mayes	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Middleweight	Caio Borralho	def.	Abus Magomedov	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Catchweight (165 lb)	Elves Brener	def.	Kaynan Kruschewsky	KO (punch)	1	4:01
Preliminary card (ESPN+)
Welterweight	Rinat Fakhretdinov	vs.	Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos	Draw (majority) (29–28, 28–28, 28–28)	3	5:00
Light Heavyweight	Vitor Petrino	def.	Modestas Bukauskas	KO (punch)	2	1:03
Women's Strawweight	Angela Hill	def.	Denise Gomes	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Catchweight (119.5 lb)	Eduarda Moura	def.	Montserrat Ruiz	TKO (punches)	2	2:14
Lightweight	Marc Diakiese	def.	Kauê Fernandes	Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 30–27)	3	5:00

^[15]

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.^[16]

Fight of the Night: Nicolas Dalby vs. Gabriel Bonfim
Performance of the Night: Elves Brener and Vitor Petrino

References

^ Bohn, Mike (November 5, 2023). "UFC Fight Night 231 post-event facts: Jailton Almeida sets ground control time record". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
^ ^a ^b Machado, Mateus (August 12, 2023). "UFC São Paulo é confirmado para novembro com duelo entre Blaydes e Malhadinho na luta principal; confira" [UFC São Paulo is confirmed for November with a duel between Blaydes and Malhadinho in the main event; check out]. tatame.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
^ Meshew, Jed (June 1, 2023). "Curtis Blaydes vs. Jailton Almeida targeted for UFC main event in Sao Paulo". mmafighting.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
^ King, Nolan; Bohn, Mike (October 9, 2023). "Derrick Lewis replaces Curtis Blaydes, headlines UFC Sao Paulo vs. Jailton Almeida". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
^ "Eduarda Ronda estreia no UFC São Paulo contra adversária sul-coreana" [Eduarda Ronda debuts at UFC São Paulo against South Korean opponent]. ge.globo.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). September 1, 2023. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
^ King, Nolan (September 18, 2023). "Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Sept. 11-17)". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Archived from the original on September 20, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "UFC Fight Night 231 weigh-in results: Three miss marks in Sao Paulo, two fights scrapped". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. November 3, 2023. Archived from the original on November 7, 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
^ Leonard, Harvey (July 23, 2023). "UFC Matchmaking Bulletin (7/17-7/23): Caio Borralho & 'Blood Diamond' have returns announced, six cancellations". mmanews.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
^ "Abus Magomedov steps in to face Caio Borralho at UFC Sao Paulo". mmafighting.com. October 8, 2023. Archived from the original on October 9, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
^ Tiwari, Shivam (September 1, 2023). "Daniel Santos vs Daniel Marcos reported for UFC Sao Paulo". itnwwe.com. Archived from the original on October 27, 2023. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
^ "UFC Sao Paulo: Daniel Santos out, Victor Hugo debuts vs Daniel Marcos". itnwwe.com. October 11, 2023. Archived from the original on October 27, 2023. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
^ Martinez, Diego (September 20, 2023). "David Onama vs. Lucas Alexander añadido al UFC São Paulo" [David Onama vs. Lucas Alexander added to UFC São Paulo]. mmaaldia.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on November 2, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
^ Cruz, Guilherme (October 31, 2023). "Injury knocks David Onama, Lucas Alexander off UFC Sao Paulo". mmafighting.com. Archived from the original on October 31, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
^ Anderson, Jay (November 4, 2023). "UFC Sao Paulo: Rodolfo Vieira vs. Armen Petrosyan cancelled last minute". cagesidepress.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2023. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
^ "UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs. Lewis". UFC. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
^ Taylor, Chris (November 4, 2023). "UFC Sao Paulo Bonus Report: Nicolas Dalby one of four fighters to take home $50k". bjpenn.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2023. Retrieved November 4, 2023.