UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal
UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal (also known as UFC Fight Night 147 or UFC on ESPN+ 5) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on March 16, 2019 at The O Arena in London, England. Background. A welterweight bout between former UFC Welterweight Championship challenger Darren Till and Jorge Masvidal served as the event headliner. Alessio Di Chirico was expected to face Tom Breese at the event. However, Di Chirico pulled out of the fight in early January citing an undisclosed injury and subsequent surgery. On January  8, it was reported that middleweight winner Cezar Ferreira would be his replacement. Ferreira and Breese were expected to meet at in November 2018, but Breese pulled out due to injury. In turn, Ferreira withdrew from the bout on February 1, citing a knee injury. Breese was expected to face Ian Heinisch. However, the fight was cancelled on the day of the event due to undisclosed health issues for Breese. Gökhan Saki was scheduled to face Saparbek Safarov at the event. However Saki pulled out of the fight in late February due to an undisclosed injury. He was replaced by  promotional newcomer Nicolae Negumereanu. At the weigh-ins, Jack Marshman weighed in at 188 lb, 2 pounds over the middleweight non-title fight limit of 186 lb. He was fined 20% of his fight purse and his bout against John Phillips proceeded at catchweight. During the main card broadcast, the UFC announced that former UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping (also The Ultimate Fighter 3 light heavyweight winner) will be inducted in the UFC's Hall of Fame during "International Fight Week" in July, a day before UFC 239. Post-Fight Altercation. The event was marked by a brief backstage altercation  between Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards as Masvidal was conducting a post-fight interview with ESPN reporter Laura Sanko. The altercation, broadcast by ESPN resulted in an open cut under the left eye of Edwards and received coverage under specialized media outlets. In posterior interviews, each of the fighters have diverging accounts of the events. Edwards declined to press charges. UFC President Dana White did not manifest sanctions to either of the fighters however has blamed his own staff. Bonus awards. The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses: