UFC on ESPN: Blanchfield vs. Fiorot
2024 mixed martial event in Nevada, US
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UFC on ESPN: Blanchfield vs. Fiorot (also known as UFC on ESPN 54) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 30, 2024, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States.[2][3]
| UFC on ESPN: Blanchfield vs. Fiorot | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
The poster for UFC on ESPN: Blanchfield vs. Fiorot | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | March 30, 2024 | |||
| Venue | Boardwalk Hall | |||
| City | Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States | |||
| Attendance | 12,198[1] | |||
| Total gate | $2,180,601[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
The event marked the promotion's tenth visit to Atlantic City and first since UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Lee in April 2018.[3]
A women's flyweight bout between Erin Blanchfield and Manon Fiorot headlined the event.[4] The bout was promoted to main event status when the original announced headliner, a welterweight bout between Sean Brady and Vicente Luque, fell through when Brady indicated he never signed a bout agreement due to dealing with an injury.[5][6] Luque was instead matched up with Joaquin Buckley in the co-main event.[7]
A light heavyweight bout between former UFC Light Heavyweight Championship challenger Dominick Reyes and Carlos Ulberg was scheduled UFC 297, but it was postponed due to an injury sustained by Ulberg and was rescheduled for this event.[8] However, Reyes pulled out due to deep vein thrombosis and was replaced by Alonzo Menifield.[9][10] In turn, the promotion opted to move the pairing to UFC on ESPN 56 on May 11 due to undisclosed reasons.[11]
A featherweight bout between Nate Landwehr and Pat Sabatini was expected to take place at the event.[12] However, Sabatini withdrew for unknown reasons and was replaced by Jamall Emmers.[13]
At the weigh ins, Julio Arce weighed in at 147.25 pounds, one and a quarter pounds over the featherweight non-title fight limit. His bout proceeded at catchweight and he was fined 20 percent of his purse which went to his opponent Herbert Burns.[14]
A women's flyweight bout between Viktoriia Dudakova and Melissa Gatto was scheduled for this event.[15] Despite both women weighing in, the bout was cancelled during the broadcast due to a Dudakova illness.[16]
Results
| Main card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Women's Flyweight | Manon Fiorot | def. | Erin Blanchfield | Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 50–45, 50–45) | 5 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Joaquin Buckley | def. | Vicente Luque | TKO (punches) | 2 | 3:17 | |
| Middleweight | Chris Weidman | def. | Bruno Silva | Technical Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 2:18 | [a] |
| Middleweight | Nursulton Ruziboev | def. | Sedriques Dumas | TKO (punches) | 1 | 3:18 | |
| Featherweight | Kyle Nelson | def. | Bill Algeo | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:00 | |
| Welterweight | Chidi Njokuani | def. | Rhys McKee | Decision (split) (28–29, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN2 / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Featherweight | Nate Landwehr | def. | Jamall Emmers | KO (punches) | 1 | 4:43 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Virna Jandiroba | def. | Loopy Godinez | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Catchweight (147.25 lb) | Julio Arce | def. | Herbert Burns | TKO (punches) | 2 | 2:00 | [b] |
| Featherweight | Dennis Buzukja | def. | Connor Matthews | TKO (punches) | 3 | 0:22 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Ibo Aslan | def. | Anton Turkalj | TKO (punch) | 3 | 1:32 | |
| Middleweight | Jacob Malkoun | def. | Andre Petroski | TKO (soccer kick to the body) | 2 | 0:39 | |
| Bantamweight | Caolán Loughran | def. | Angel Pacheco | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–26) | 3 | 5:00 | |
- Originally ruled a TKO (punches) win for Weidman; changed to a decision by the athletic commission due to Silva suffering an eye poke leading to the stoppage.
- Burns was deducted 1 point in round 1 due to repeated illegal groin strikes.
Bonus awards
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[18]
- Fight of the Night: Ibo Aslan vs. Anton Turkalj
- Performance of the Night: Nate Landwehr and Dennis Buzukja
