UFC Fight News: Including Poirier, Hooker And Edgar
Since the UFC returned with three shows in eight days, the fight announcements have been coming in thick and fast. And the last 24 hours have been no different.
UFC’s June 27th Card:
Probably the most exciting matchup discussed in the last few hours is the rebooking of Dustin Poirier vs Dan Hooker. The top five ranked UFC lightweights were originally scheduled to headline UFC San Diego on May 16th, before the global coronavirus pandemic caused the event to be cancelled.
Poirier and Hooker are once again set to be the main event, this time on June 27th. It is hoped that travel restrictions will have been lifted by then, allowing ‘The Hangman’ to travel to Las Vegas to fight at the UFC APEX. However, the fight may be pushed back to July on Fight Island, should the Kiwi be unable to travel to the US next month.
‘The Diamond’ is coming off hip surgery, following his third round loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov last September at UFC 242. The loss ended a four fight winning streak for Poirier, over Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez and Max Holloway. While Hooker is on a three fight win streak over James Vick, Al Iaquinta and Paul Felder.
A heavyweight contest between Gian Villante and Maurice Greene is also in the works for June 27th. Villante will be returning to heavyweight, after nine years fighting at light heavyweight, and is coming off a loss to Micha? Oleksiejczuk at UFC Prague 15 months ago. ‘The Crochet Boss’ will also be looking to get back to winning ways. Having won his first three fights inside the Octagon, the 33 year old is coming off back-to-back losses against Sergei Pavlovich and Aleksei Oleinik.
UFC’s July 11th Card:
Frankie Edgar looks set to finally make his bantamweight debut on July 11th, against Pedro Munhoz. ‘The Answer’ was set to make his 135lbs debut at the start of the year against Cory Sandhagen but decided to fight ‘The Korean Zombie’ on late notice at featherweight at UFC Busan, in December.
The former UFC lightweight champion will be looking to get back to winning ways, having lost to ‘The Zombie’ in South Korea and to Max Holloway, prior to that.
Munhoz will also be looking to bounce back from a loss. Having notched up wins over Brett Johns, Bryan Caraway and Cody Garbrandt, the 33 year old Brazilian lost to Aljamain Sterling in his last outing at UFC 238.
UFC’s June 13th Card:
In the las couple of hours, ESPN‘s Brett Okamoto has reported that Jessica Eye and Cynthia Calvillo will headline the UFC’s June 13th card. ‘Evil’ Eye is coming off a win over Viviane Araujo at the end of 2019 at UFC 245. While Calvillo is coming off a draw against Marina Rodriguez one week prior, at UFC Washington. It is believed that this will go down at flyweight. Both ladies have missed weight in recent fights.
It is also reported that an exciting featherweight clash between Andre Fili and Charles Jourdain is being targeted for June 13th. ‘Touchy’ Fili lost his last fight against Sodiq Yusuff at UFC 246, having won his previous two fights. While ‘Air’ Joudain is coming off a win over ‘The Korean Superboy’ last December at UFC Busan.
UFC’s July 13th Card:
Lastly, it has been reported that a clash between the number five ranked UFC flyweight Alexandre Pantoja and the number six ranked Askar Askarov, is in the works for the UFC’s July 13th card. ‘The Cannibal’ will be looking to make it two wins in a row, having knocked out Matt Schnell in the first round at UFC Busan. While ‘Bullet’ will be looking to extend his unbeaten record, after beating Tim Elliot at UFC 246 to extend his record to 11-0-1.
Which of these matchups are you most looking forward to seeing?
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