''UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Spivac'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 218'', ''UFC on ESPN+ 76'' and ''UFC Vegas 68'') was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

event produced by the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

that took place on February 4, 2023, at the

UFC Apex UFC Apex (stylized as UFC APEX) is a live events and production center in Enterprise, Nevada, operated and owned by TKO Group Holdings (TKO). The venue hosts events held by TKO's two divisions, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and WWE, as ...

facility in

Enterprise, Nevada Enterprise is an unincorporated town in the Las Vegas Valley in Clark County, Nevada, United States. The population was 221,831 at the 2020 U.S. census, up from 14,676 at the 2000 census. It was founded on December 17, 1996. As in other uninc ...

, part of the

Las Vegas Metropolitan Area Clark County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Nevada with 2,265,461 residents as of the 2020 census. The county is the location of the state's three largest cities, Las Vegas (the county seat), Henderson, and North Las Vegas ...

, United States.

Background

The organization originally targeted a return to

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

to host the event. Instead, the event was moved to the

. A heavyweight bout between former

UFC Heavyweight Championship Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight clas ...

challenger

Derrick Lewis Derrick James Lewis (born February 7, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he currently holds the record for most knockouts i ...

and

Serghei Spivac Serghei Spivac (born January 24, 1995) is a Moldovan professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2014, he has also formerly competed for World Warrio ...

headlined the event. The pair was previously expected to headline UFC Fight Night: Nzechukwu vs. Cuțelaba in November 2022, but while the event was in progress, Lewis was forced to withdraw due to non-COVID, non-weight-cutting illness, and the bout was cancelled. However, Lewis later confirmed that he had, in fact, contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. A women's Strawweight bout between

Loma Lookboonmee Suphisara Konlak () (born January 18, 1996), known professionally as Loma Lookboonmee (), is a Thai martial artist who has competed in Muay Thai, boxing, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts. In boxing she has fought under the names Kanda Por Muang ...

and Elise Reed was scheduled for the event. However, the pair was moved to

UFC 284 ''UFC 284: Makhachev vs. Volkanovski'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 12, 2023, at Perth Arena, RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Background The event marked the promotion's ...

for undisclosed reasons. The four finals of

Road to UFC Season 1 Road to UFC Season 1 is the 2022 cycle of Road to UFC, a mixed martial arts event series in which top Asian MMA prospects compete to win contracts with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). It features four divisions—flyweight, bantamweigh ...

took place at this event. ESPN reporter Laura Sanko made her UFC

color commentary A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

debut at this event, becoming the first female color commentator in the modern UFC era to call an event from the booth. A women's flyweight bout between Kim Ji-yeon and Mandy Böhm was expected to take place at the event. However, Böhm was forced to withdraw before the event started due to illness, and the bout was cancelled.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. *Fight of the Night: No bonus awarded. *Performance of the Night: Serghei Spivac, Anshul Jubli, Rinya Nakamura, and Tatsuro Taira

References

{{2023 in mixed martial arts UFC Fight Night 2023 in UFC February 2023 sports events in the United States 2023 in sports in Nevada Ultimate Fighting Championship events in Enterprise, Nevada

Background

Results

Bonus awards

See also

References