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UFC Fight Night 188: Font vs. Garbrandt (also known as UFC Vegas 27) is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on May 22, 2021 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.


Fight card

Main Card (ESPN+)

Bantamweight Rob Font vs. Cody Garbrandt
Women's Strawweight Yan Xiaonan vs. Carla Esparza
Heavyweight Justin Tafa vs. Jared Vanderaa
Women's Featherweight Felicia Spencer vs. Norma Dumont Viana
Featherweight Ricardo Ramos vs. Bill Algeo
Middleweight Jack Hermansson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan

Preliminary card (ESPN+)

Heavyweight Ben Rothwell vs. Chris Barnett
Welterweight Court McGee vs. Cláudio Silva
Flyweight Bruno Gustavo da Silva vs. Victor Rodriguez
Featherweight Josh Culibao vs. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke
Catchweight (128.5 lb) David Dvořák vs. Juancamilo Ronderos
Lightweight Rafael Alves vs. Damir Ismagulov


Background

A bantamweight bout between former UFC Bantamweight Champion Cody Garbrandt and Rob Font will serve as the main event.

Ricardo Ramos and Bill Algeo were originally scheduled to meet in a bantamweight bout five weeks earlier at UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Gastelum, but Ramos was pulled from the fight during the week leading up to the event after testing positive for COVID-19. The pairing was left intact and is expected to take place at this event.

Denys Bondar was expected to face Victor Rodriguez in a flyweight bout at the event. However, he was forced to pull out in late April due to an injury and was replaced by Bruno Gustavo da Silva.

Promotional newcomer Danyelle Wolf was expected to face former Invicta FC Featherweight Champion and UFC Women's Featherweight Championship challenger Felicia Spencer in a women's featherweight bout at the event. However, Wolf pulled out of the fight in early May due to an undisclosed injury and was replaced by Norma Dumont Viana.

A heavyweight bout between Rodrigo Nascimento and Alan Baudot was originally expected to take place at this event. However, they were rescheduled to UFC Fight Night 191 after Baudot got injured.

A middleweight bout between Jack Hermansson and Edmen Shahbazyan was originally expected to take place one week prior at UFC 262. However, the bout was postponed due to a COVID-19 case in Hermansson's camp and is now expected to take place at this event.

Ben Rothwell and Philipe Lins were scheduled to meet in a heavyweight bout in March at UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Muhammad, but it was canceled due to an injury to Rothwell. They were then rescheduled for UFC on ESPN: Rodriguez vs. Waterson, but the bout fell through once again as Lins got ill a day before their fight. They were then expected to compete at this event. However, yet again, Lins was pulled from the event for undisclosed reasons and briefly replaced by promotional newcomer Askar Mozharov. Just hours later the Ukrainian announced he would not be able to get a visa in time for the event. He was eventually replaced by fellow newcomer Chris Barnett.

A women's bantamweight bout between Stephanie Egger and Sarah Alpar was expected to serve as the card's first bout. However, Egger pulled out due to undisclosed reasons in the week leading up to the event and was replaced by Lupita Godinez. The bout was scrapped completely a day later as Godinez wasn't able to get her visa in time.

A flyweight bout between Raulian Paiva and David Dvořák was scheduled to take place at the event. However, Paiva pulled out of the fight on the day before the event due to ill effects related to his weight cut. He was replaced by promotional newcomer Juancamilo Ronderos. At the weigh-ins, Ronderos weighed in at 128.5 pounds, two and a half pounds over the division's non-title fight limit. The bout will proceed at catchweight and he will be fined 20% of his purse, which will go to Dvořák.

A lightweight bout between Yancy Medeiros and Damir Hadžović was scheduled for the event. However, the day of the event, the bout was pulled from the card for unknown reasons.


May 20 - Updated fight card & background
May 22 - Updated fight card & background

May 20 - Updated fight card & background

May 22 - Updated fight card & background

A flyweight bout between Raulian Paiva and David Dvořák was scheduled to take place at the event. However, Paiva pulled out of the fight on the day before the event due to ill effects related to his weight cut. He was replaced by promotional newcomer Juancamilo Ronderos. At the weigh-ins, Ronderos weighed in at 128.5 pounds, two and a half pounds over the division's non-title fight limit. The bout will proceed at catchweight and he will be fined 20% of his purse, which will go to Dvořák.

A lightweight bout between Yancy Medeiros and Damir Hadžović was scheduled for the event. However, the day of the event, the bout was pulled from the card for unknown reasons.