A number of new fights have been scheduled over the next few months.
People had begun to question the depth of the upcoming PPV card on May 6 in Newark, New Jersey, the first time the UFC will have held an event in the city in three years.
UFC boss Dana White took to the organization’s official YouTube Channel to announce a plethora of newly scheduled bouts over the coming weeks.
The first of Dana’s announcements was that the co-main event would be a five-round Welterweight match between Belal Muhammad (#4) and Gilbert Burns (#5).
Earlier this week it seemed as though the fight might not go ahead because Muhammad requested that the bout occurs at a catchweight due to Belal having recently observed Ramadan and celebrating the Eid festivities. This led to Burns turning his attention to Dustin Poirier, who seemed relatively open to a short notice bout, providing the money was right. However, the UFC has managed to get Muhammed Vs. Burns over the line. The announcement of this bout means we can assume the rumored fight between Paulo Costa and Jan Błachowicz will not be taking place, at least not at UFC 288.
Elsewhere on this card, Moslar Evloev (#10) has been confirmed as the challenger to Bryce Mitchell (#11) for their featherweight match-up, restoring the card to its strength around one week ago.
Dana’s announcement then mentioned UFC 289’s main event between Amanda Nunez and Julianna Peña in Canada, which will conclude their trilogy. The news followed that Charles Oliveira would face Beneil Dariush in the co-main event of UFC 289 after the bout had to be rescheduled from UFC 288 due to an injury sustained by Oliveira in training.
Next up, Fight Night at the UFC Apex on June 3 will be headlined by Jack Hermansson and Brendan Allen as #10 takes on #13 in the middleweight division.
The news kept coming thick and fast as Dana White announced a mouth-watering tie at UFC Fight Night on June 17 (also at the Apex) would feature Marvin Vettori (#3) against Jared Cannonier (#4), who have both returned to winning ways after recent defeats to the current Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya.
The UFC returns to Jacksonville, Florida, on June 24 as Josh Emmett looks to return to winning ways against the unbeaten Ilia Topuria, who has just come off an imposing submission victory over Bryce Mitchell at UFC 282 back in December.
The ever-present Sean Strickland was next to be announced to kick off things in July against Abus Magomedov. Props are probably (and deservedly) about to head Strickland’s way as he agrees to fight an unranked opponent that others in the Middleweight division have turned down. Strickland has more to lose than gain from agreeing to this fight, making it three contests in just seven months.
UFC returning to the UK
Attention turned across the pond as it was announced that the UFC would return to London on July 22 at the O2 Arena. The fact this event is a Fight Night card confirms that we won’t be seeing Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards in the cage, but if recent events in London are anything to go by, we can expect fireworks from the crowd whoever is fighting on the night.
The card for London is currently being worked on, but another fighter we shouldn’t expect to see is Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett. Paddy told Sky Sports that the ankle injury sustained in his decision victory over Jared Gordon in December is worse than previously thought. He has been on crutches for over six weeks, and it could be another six weeks before he can walk again unaided. Pimblett said he would be lucky to fight again this year after having to go through ligament surgery.
The announcement from Dana White shows (again) that despite last-minute injuries threatening cards, coupled with the pressure of having to put on so many events throughout the year, the organisation can cope with last minute changes well due to their roster being around 600 deep.
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