UFC on ESPN 44 - Holloway vs. Allen --- UFC on ESPN 45 - Song vs. Simon
UFC Fight Night 222: Pavlovich vs. Blaydes (also known as UFC Vegas 71) is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on April 22, 2023, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
Fight card
Main card (ESPN+)
Heavyweight Sergei Pavlovich vs. Curtis Blaydes
Bantamweight Song Yadong vs. Ricky Simón
Middleweight Brad Tavares vs. Bruno Silva
Lightweight Bobby Green vs. Jared Gordon
Women's Strawweight Iasmin Lucindo vs. Brogan Walker-Sanchez
Welterweight Jeremiah Wells vs. Matthew Semelsberger
Preliminary card (ESPN+)
Lightweight Ricky Glenn vs. Christos Giagos
Bantamweight Rani Yahya vs. Montel Jackson
Women's Featherweight Karol Rosa vs. Norma Dumont
Heavyweight Mohammad Usman vs. Junior Tafa
Featherweight Francis Marshall vs. William Gomis
Women's Flyweight Priscila Cachoeira vs. Karine Silva
Bantamweight Brady Hiestand vs. Danaa Batgerel
Background
A heavyweight bout between Sergei Pavlovich and Curtis Blaydes is expected to headline the event.
A bantamweight bout between Danaa Batgerel and Brady Hiestand was scheduled for UFC on ESPN: Holloway vs. Allen a week earlier. However, the pair was moved to this event for undisclosed reasons.
A women's strawweight bout between Iasmin Lucindo and Melissa Martinez was expected to take place at the event. However, Martinez withdrew from the bout due to an undisclosed reason and was replaced by Brogan Walker-Sanchez.
Rafael Estevam and Carlos Candelario were expected to meet in a flyweight bout at the event. However, Candelario pulled out in mid-April due to injury and Estevam was moved as a replacement against Zhalgas Zhumagulov at UFC 288 on May 6.
