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UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards

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UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards
The poster for UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards
PromotionUltimate Fighting Championship
DateMarch 21, 2020 (cancelled)
VenueThe O2 Arena
CityLondon, England
Event chronology
UFC Fight Night: Lee vs. Oliveira UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik

UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards was a planned mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship originally planned to take place on March 21, 2020, at The O2 Arena in London, England.[1][2] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was eventually postponed (see section below).[3]

Background

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The event was originally expected to take place at The O2 Arena in London, England.[1] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing a travel ban in the United Kingdom, UFC president Dana White announced on March 15 that the event would have to move to a new location to be decided and some of the fights scheduled might be affected.[4]

A welterweight bout between former UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley and Leon Edwards was expected to serve as the event headliner.[5] However, Edwards pulled out on March 15 due to the cancellation of the event in London.[6]

While not officially announced by the organization, a lightweight bout between Stevie Ray and Marc Diakiese was expected to take place at the event.[7] However, Ray was removed from the card in late January for undisclosed reasons. Diakiese was expected to remain on the card against promotional newcomer Jai Herbert.[8]

A heavyweight bout between Raphael Pessoa and Tom Aspinall was scheduled for the event. However, Pessoa was replaced by Jake Collier for an undisclosed reason.[9]

COVID-19 pandemic

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After the event was pulled from London, UFC president Dana White announced that the plan was to move the card somewhere stateside. That prompted cancellations in several bouts expected to take place at this event, including the main event.[6][10] Cage Warriors (a mixed martial arts promotion based in London) president Graham Boylan indicated that he would like to help some of these bouts to happen in his promotion's event scheduled for March 20.[11] On March 16, it was confirmed that the event was postponed after a letter from White to employees was shared to the public.[3] This was the first time that the promotion was forced to cancel events due to vis major. The UFC also cancelled two events scheduled for March 28 and April 11.[12] White assured on March 24 that all cancelled fights would be rescheduled for future events.[13] It was announced on April 1 that all fighters that were scheduled to appear at the event would be paid.[14]

Cancelled fight card

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Fight card
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Welterweight Tyron Woodley vs. Leon Edwards
Welterweight Danny Roberts vs. Nicolas Dalby [a]
Middleweight Jack Marshman vs. Kevin Holland [b]
Middleweight Darren Stewart vs. Marvin Vettori [c]
Bantamweight Jack Shore vs. Geraldo de Freitas
Lightweight Marc Diakiese vs. Jai Herbert
Light Heavyweight Paul Craig vs. Ryan Spann [d]
Featherweight Lerone Murphy vs. Gabriel Benítez
Women's Flyweight Molly McCann vs. Ashlee Evans-Smith
Featherweight Mike Grundy vs. Makwan Amirkhani
Middleweight John Phillips vs. Duško Todorović [e]
Heavyweight Tom Aspinall vs. Jake Collier
Welterweight Bartosz Fabiński vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov [f]
  1. ^ Moved to UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Till[15]
  2. ^ Holland later booked to face Anthony Hernandez at UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Harris.[16]
  3. ^ Stewart faced Bartosz Fabiński at Cage Warriors 113.[17] Vettori later booked to face Karl Roberson at UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Teixeira.[18]
  4. ^ Spann later booked to face Sam Alvey at UFC 249.[18]
  5. ^ Moved to Cage Warriors 113.[19] Later cancelled as travel restrictions in the region affected Todorović.[20]
  6. ^ Fabiński faced Darren Stewart at Cage Warriors 113.[17]

[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Peter Carroll (22 November 2019). "UFC returns to London on Mar. 21". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  2. ^ Jay Anderson (22 November 2019). "UFC Back in London, England on March 21, 2020". cagesidepress.com. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b Nolan King and John Morgan (15 March 2020). "UFC postpones three events amid growing coronavirus outbreak". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  4. ^ Steven Marrocco (15 March 2020). "UFC to move next three events, Dana White vows show will go on despite coronavirus pandemic". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  5. ^ Mike Bohn (17 January 2020). "Tyron Woodley, Leon Edwards set to headline UFC on ESPN+ 29 in London". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  6. ^ a b Staff (15 March 2020). "Tyron Woodley vs. Leon Edwards canceled amid UFC on ESPN+ 29 revamp". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  7. ^ Staff (1 January 2020). "England vs. Scotland clash between Marc Diakiese and Stevie Ray during UFC London". mmadna.nl. Retrieved 1 January 2020. (in Dutch)
  8. ^ Danny Segura (27 January 2020). "Cage Warriors champ Jai Herbert replaces Stevie Ray, takes on Marc Diakiese at UFC London". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  9. ^ Staff (13 February 2020). "After 2.5 years of absence from UFC, Jake Collier makes a comeback against Tom Aspinall in London". mmadna.nl. Retrieved 13 February 2020. (in Dutch)
  10. ^ Staff (15 March 2020). "UFC London card falls into shambles after relocation announcement due to coronavirus outbreak". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  11. ^ Simon Head (15 March 2020). "Graham Boylan hopes to save some UFC on ESPN+ 29 fights in London with Cage Warriors 113". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  12. ^ Brett Okamoto (16 March 2020). "UFC postponing next three events, Dana White says". espn.com. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  13. ^ Farah Hannoun (24 March 2020). "Dana White: All called-off fights, including Tyron Woodley vs. Leon Edwards, are being rescheduled". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  14. ^ Peter Carroll (1 April 2020). "UFC London fighters to receive payment for canceled event". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  15. ^ Mike Heck (18 June 2020). "UFC announces full lineups for July events on 'Fight Island,' including four title fights". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  16. ^ Mike Bohn (9 April 2020). "Kevin Holland replaces Puna Soriano, meets Anthony Hernandez on UFC's May 16 card". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  17. ^ a b Peter Carroll (16 March 2020). "Darren Stewart vs. Bartosz Fabinski added to Cage Warriors 113 after UFC London cancellation". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  18. ^ a b Alexander K. Lee (6 April 2020). "UFC 249 fight card announced, Andrade vs. Namajunas 2 still co-headlines". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  19. ^ Simon Head (16 March 2020). "UFC London's John Phillips vs. Dusko Todorovic added to Cage Warriors 113". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  20. ^ Simon Head (18 March 2020). "UFC's Bartosz Fabinski, Darren Stewart headline reshuffled Cage Warriors 113 card". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  21. ^ "UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards". Ultimate Fighting Championship. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
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