The
Ultimate Fighting Championship is not straying away from
middleweight main events, even outside of Las Vegas.
The promotion announced via press release in April the nearly
completed lineup of UFC Louisville, also known as
UFC on ESPN 57. The fight card held at the KFC Yum! Center in
Louisville, Kentucky, had numerous previously announced matchups
confirmed while bringing light to a few others. Of note, the
release stated that Dominick
Reyes (12-4) and Dustin
Jacoby (19-8-1) would be competing in the light heavyweight
co-main attraction, while Andrea Lee
(13-9) and Montana
De La Rosa (12-9) will throw down in the early prelims at
flyweight.
Shortly after the press release dropped, MMA
Mania broke the news that the main event would come at 185
pounds between Jared
Cannonier (17-6) and Nassourdine
Imavov (13-4, 1 NC). This battle on June 8 has now been
confirmed by
other outlets on Thursday.
This main attraction appearance for Cannonier will be his first in
nearly a year, when he pulled off a decision win over Marvin
Vettori in Las Vegas. The former heavyweight has won two
straight, which also includes a split call over future champ
Sean
Strickland. Since joining the major stage in 2015, Cannonier
has never strung together more than three wins in a row.
France’s Imavov put a rough 2023 behind him by beating Roman
Dolidze over five rounds in February. Before then, he and
Chris
Curtis banged heads to result in a no contest. Prior to that no
contest, the MMA Factory product fell short to Strickland at the
hands of the judges. Both men celebrate finish rates right around
70%.
The co-main of Reyes vs. Jacoby comes between two 205ers who have
lost seven of their combined last eight encounters. Former title
challenger has lost four straight since a razor close decision loss
to Jon
Jones in 2020, while Jacoby’s lone win in his last four came
over Kennedy
Nzechukwu in August 2023. The same can be said about struggling
flyweights Lee and De La Rosa, with Lee dropping four in a row
compared to De La Rosa holding a single win in four contests. They
will run a fight back from 2019 that saw Lee prevail by unanimous
decision.
