UFC Louisville: Top Middleweights Booked for UFC Fight Night Main Event
UFC Louisville will be headlined by a huge middleweight bout with serious title implications.
The UFC’s long-awaited return to Louisville, KY will feature a huge middleweight matchup in the night’s main event.
The world’s leading MMA promotion hasn’t visited Louisville since Diego Sanchez and Martin Kampann headlined an event there in 2011, but earlier this month, it was announced that a UFC Fight Night card will take place on June 8 at the KFC Yum! Center.
UFC Louisville was initially unveiled without a main event, but now Alex Behunin reports that top middleweights Jared Cannonier and Nassourdine Imavov will square off in the card’s headlining bout.
Cannonier fought for the middleweight belt at UFC 276.
Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
A former middleweight title challenger, Cannonier has rebounded from his loss to former champion Israel Adesanya with back-to-back wins over Marvin Vettori and Sean Strickland. He currently sits at #4 in the UFC’s middleweight rankings.
Imavov is ranked a few spots below Cannonier at #8 and is coming off a decision victory over Roman Dolidze earlier this year. Although both he and “Killa Gorilla” could move closer to a title shot in Louisville, it looks like the current champion, Dricus Du Plessis, is hard at work preparing for a rumored showdown with Adesanya later this year.
The news of the UFC Louisville headliner between Cannonier and Imavov came shortly after the promotion announced former title challenger Dominick Reyes and Dustin Jacoby would also meet at the event. Currently, the whole fight card on June 8 looks like this:
• Jared Cannonier vs. Nassourdine Imavov
• Dominick Reyes vs. Dustin Jacoby
• Brad Katona vs. Jesse Butler
• Thiago Moisés vs. Ľudovít Klein
• Punahele Soriano vs. Miguel Baeza
• Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios
• Eduarda Moura vs. Denis Gomes
• Julian Marquez vs. Jack Reese
• Puja Tomar vs. Rayanne Amanda
• Cody Stamann vs. Taylor Lapilus
• Charles Radtke vs. Carlos Prates
• Brunno Ferreira vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
• Daniel Marcos vs. John Castañeda
• Andrea Lee vs. Montana De La Rosa
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