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A matchup between bantamweight prospects is headed to Rio Rancho, N.M.
[autotag]Casey Kenney[/autotag] (13-1-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) will face [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] (9-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at UFC on ESPN+ 25. MMA Junkie confirmed the booking with persons with knowledge of the agreement following an initial report from The Body Lock.
UFC Rio Rancho takes place Feb. 15 at Santa Ana Star Center in New Mexico. The card is expected to air on ESPN or stream on ESPN+.
“Dana White’s Contender Series” vet Kenney is off to a 2-0 start in his UFC tenure, scoring back-to-back wins over former UFC flyweight title challenger Ray Borg and, most recently, bouncing Manny Bermudez out of the ranks of the unbeaten in August.
Serra-Longo’s Dvalishvili has also won his last two in a row, most recently taking the zero out of Brad Katona’s undefeated record, defeating him via unanimous decision in May. Dvalishvili will now look to make it three straight when he takes on Kenney.
The latest UFC Rio Rancho lineup includes:
- Corey Anderson vs. Jan Blachowicz
- Michel Pereira vs. Diego Sanchez
- Rogerio Bontorin vs. Ray Borg
- Macy Chiasson vs. Nicco Montano
- Montana De La Rosa vs. Mara Romero Borella
- Mark De La Rosa vs. Raulian Paiva
- Gadzhimurad Antigulov vs. Devin Clark
- Merab Dvalishvili vs. Casey Kenney
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