UFC Fan Favorite Reportedly Set for Huge Fight at UFC 330 in Philadelphia

The UFC’s return to Philadelphia has reportedly added a fan-friendly matchup that looks likely to produce a finish.

Scheduled to take place on August 15 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena, UFC 330 will see the Octagon return to Philadelphia, PA for the first time since a UFC Fight Night in 2019 that saw recently-crowned UFC Lightweight Champion Justin Gaethje knock out Justin Gaethje in the first round.

Barboza will be returning to Philadelphia for a matchup against Esteban Ribovics in the first fight set for UFC 330. First reported by @MagicM_MMABets and confirmed by Marcel Dorff, that card will also feature a middleweight clash between Vicente Luque and Tresean Gore.

Vicente Luque Coming Off Successful Middleweight Debut at UFC 327

A member of the UFC roster since 2015, Luque joined the promotion after competing on Season 21 of The Ultimate Fighter.

Kelvin Gastelum (red gloves) fights Vicente Luque (blue gloves) during UFC 327 at Kaseya Center. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Luque fell short in his promotional debut but rebounded by stopping four-straight opponents before he dropped a decision to future UFC Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards in 2017. Another six-fight winning streak that included five-straight finishes came to a halt against Stephen “Wonderboy”
Thompson at UFC 244, but Luque once again moved on from that setback in impressive fashion with a four-fight run of finishes.

“The Silent Assassin” has failed to win back-to-back fights since Belal Muhammad ended that four-fight winning streak in 2022. Luque moved up from welterweight to the middleweight division last April at UFC 327, where he submitted former interim title challenger Kelvin Gastelum in the opening
round.

Tresean Gore Could Even Out UFC Record vs. Fan Favorite Luque

The Brazilian’s second middleweight outing at UFC 330 will see him take on fellow TUF veteran Gore, who has less professional fights than Luque does finishes in the UFC.

After falling to Bryan Battle in the middleweight finals of TUF Season 29, Gore was knocked out in the first round of a matchup with Cody Brundage for an 0-2 start to his UFC career. He evened his UFC record out with back-to-back submissions against Josh Fremd and Antonio Trocoli before suffering another pair of losses in both of his outings last year.

Tresean Gore (red gloves) fights against Marco Tulio (blue gloves) during UFC 314 at Kaseya Center. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

With his back against the wall, Gore secured a sizeable upset in April when he defeated Azamat Bekoev. That marked the 31-year-old's third win via guillotine choke out of as many UFC victories, and he’ll have the chance to bring his UFC record to 4-4 when he meets Luque at UFC 330.

There’s still been no concrete news regarding what fight will headline the UFC’s return to Philadelphia, although the current expectation is that Islam Makhachev will defend his welterweight belt for the first time in the night’s main event.

UFC 330 Fight Card

Edson Barboza vs. Esteban Ribovis

Vicente Luque vs. Tresean Gore

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