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The dull and dusty APEX facility in Las Vegas is once again the setting chosen by the world’s premiere MMA league as we embark on UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Cannonier this Saturday (June 18th) night. Top-5 middleweights Marvin Vettori and Jared Cannonier will collide in the marquee matchup of the evening, and with the former 185-pound champ Alex Pereira moving up to 205-pounds, this bout is essentially for the #2 spot in the division.
So at middleweight right now there’s the current champion Israel Adesanya, Bobby Knuckles/Robert Whittaker right behind him, and then there’s the #3 ranked Vettori and the #4 ranked Cannonier. In recent memory, Marvin has only lost to Adesanya and Whittaker, and the exact same thing holds true for Jared. In terms of succession to the belt, if Whittaker is the vice president of the division, then this matchup decides who becomes the Speaker of the House, and who settles for the President Pro Temp.
The co-main event of the evening should be a ton of fun when the UFC’s #8 ranked lightweight, Arman Tsarukyan, mixes it up with ‘Neto BJJ’ himself, Joaquim Silva. Tsarukyan has won six of his last seven, having only lost a razor-thin decision to Mateusz Gamrot las June. Silva is always dangerous, and he’s had four fights in a row end inside the distance. That includes his fantastic flying knee knockout of Jesse Ronson last October at the UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Yan event. This should amount to a good ol’ fashioned banger, both on the feet and in the grappling exchanges.
We unfortunately lost a set of preliminary bouts during fight week. A bantamweight bout between Raoni Barcelos and Miles Johns was cancelled after Johns withdrew due to injury. Also, a flyweight tilt between Zhalgas Zhumagulov and Felipe Bunes has been scrapped due to Bunes dropping out for undisclosed reasons. Welp, the show must go on.
Start time and date
UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Cannonier takes place on Saturday June 18th at the Crusty ol’ APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event starts at 10 p.m. ET. The prelims begin at 7 p.m. ET.
How to watch
UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Cannonier is available on ESPN+ for current subscribers, and can also be seen on ESPN. The event is scheduled to start live at 7:00pm ET, 4pm PT. For full streaming details, and compatible devices go here.
Full UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Cannonier fight card
Main card
- Marvin Vettori vs. Jared Cannonier: Middleweight
- Arman Tsarukyan vs. Joaquim Silva: Lightweight
- Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Armen Petrosyan: Middleweight
- Pat Sabatini vs. Lucas Almeida: Featherweight
- Nikolas Motta vs. Manuel Torres: Lightweight
- Muslim Salikhov vs. Nicolas Dalby: Welterweight
Prelims
Raoni Barcelos vs. Miles Johns: Bantamweight- Jimmy Flick vs. Alessandro Costa: Flyweight
- Kyung Ho Kang vs. Cristian Quiñonez: Bantamweight
- Carlos Hernandez vs. Denys Bondar: Flyweight
Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs. Felipe Bunes: Flyweight- Tereza Bledá vs. Gabriella Fernandes: Flyweight
- Ronnie Lawrence vs. Daniel Argueta: Bantamweight
- Modestas Bukauskas vs. Zac Pauga: Light Heavyweight
What comes after UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Cannonier?
The next event after UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Cannonier is UFC Fight Night: Emmett vs. Topuria, also known as UFC on ABC 5. Thankfully, the UFC will be venturing out of the dusty APEX in Nevada for the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. Top-ranked featherweights will grace the main event when the UFC’s #5 rated, Josh Emmett, tangles with the #9 rated, Ilia Topuria.
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