UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal

UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal
UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal
	The poster for UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal
Information
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	March 16, 2019
Venue	The O2 Arena
City	London, England
Attendance	16,602
Total gate	$2,400,000
Event chronology

UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal (also known as UFC Fight Night 147 or UFC on ESPN+ 5) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on March 16, 2019 at The O₂ Arena in London, England.^[2]^[3]

Background

A welterweight bout between former UFC Welterweight Championship challenger Darren Till and Jorge Masvidal served as the event headliner.^[4]

Alessio Di Chirico was expected to face Tom Breese at the event. However, Di Chirico pulled out of the fight in early January citing an undisclosed injury and subsequent surgery.^[5] On January 8, it was reported that The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil middleweight winner Cezar Ferreira would be his replacement. Ferreira and Breese were expected to meet at UFC Fight Night: Magny vs. Ponzinibbio in November 2018, but Breese pulled out due to injury.^[6] In turn, Ferreira withdrew from the bout on February 1, citing a knee injury.^[7] Breese was expected to face Ian Heinisch.^[8] However, the fight was cancelled on the day of the event due to undisclosed health issues for Breese.^[9]

Gökhan Saki was scheduled to face Saparbek Safarov at the event. However Saki pulled out of the fight in late February due to an undisclosed injury.^[10] He was replaced by promotional newcomer Nicolae Negumereanu.^[11]

At the weigh-ins, Jack Marshman weighed in at 188 lb, 2 pounds over the middleweight non-title fight limit of 186 lb. He was fined 20% of his fight purse and his bout against John Phillips proceeded at catchweight.^[12]

During the main card broadcast, the UFC announced that former UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping (also The Ultimate Fighter 3 light heavyweight winner) will be inducted in the UFC's Hall of Fame during "International Fight Week" in July, a day before UFC 239.^[13]

Post-Fight Altercation

The event was marked by a brief backstage altercation between Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards as Masvidal was conducting a post-fight interview with ESPN reporter Laura Sanko.^[14] The altercation, broadcast by ESPN resulted in an open cut under the left eye of Edwards and received coverage under specialized media outlets. In posterior interviews, each of the fighters have diverging accounts of the events.^[15] Edwards declined to press charges. UFC President Dana White did not manifest sanctions to either of the fighters, however has blamed his own staff.^[16]

Results

Main Card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Welterweight	Jorge Masvidal	def.	Darren Till	KO (punches)	2	3:05
Welterweight	Leon Edwards	def.	Gunnar Nelson	Decision (split) (29–27, 29–28, 28–29)	3	5:00
Light Heavyweight	Dominick Reyes	def.	Volkan Oezdemir	Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Bantamweight	Nathaniel Wood	def.	José Quiñónez	Submission (rear-naked choke)	2	2:46
Welterweight	Cláudio Silva	def.	Danny Roberts	Submission (armbar)	3	2:37
Catchweight (188 lb)	Jack Marshman	def.	John Phillips	Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Preliminary Card (ESPN+)
Featherweight	Arnold Allen	def.	Jordan Rinaldi	Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–27, 29–28)	3	5:00
Lightweight	Marc Diakiese	def.	Joseph Duffy	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Light Heavyweight	Saparbek Safarov	def.	Nicolae Negumereanu	Decision (unanimous) (29–26, 29–26, 29–27)	3	5:00	^[a]
Featherweight	Dan Ige	def.	Danny Henry	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	1:17
Women's Flyweight	Molly McCann	def.	Priscila Cachoeira	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Mike Grundy	def.	Nad Narimani	TKO (punches)	2	4:42