Micheal Gillmore – Syndication Server

Jonny Parsons set to make UFC debut vs. Micheal Gillmore on Feb. 26

A new welterweight fight is on the books.

[autotag]Jonny Parsons[/autotag] has his first UFC assignment.

On Feb. 26, Parsons (7-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will take on promotional sophomore [autotag]Micheal Gillmore[/autotag] (6-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in a welterweight bout at a UFC Fight Night event scheduled to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Two people with knowledge of the booking confirmed the matchup to MMA Junkie on Wednesday but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Parsons signed with the promotion after a successful performance on Dana White’s Contender Series when he defeated Solomon Renfro via split decision. The victory extended him winning streak to five.

Gillmore, meanwhile, was signed after a stint on “The Ultimate Fighter,” Season 29 in 2020. On short-notice, Gillmore made his promotional debut against fellow contestant Andre Petroski and lost via third-round stoppage due to strikes.

With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for Feb. 26 includes:

Beneil Dariush vs. Islam Makhachev
Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Marcin Tybura
Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Rong Zhu
Hannah Goldy vs. Jinh Yu Frey
Joel Alvarez vs. Arman Tsarukyan
Misha Cirkunov vs. Makhmud Muradov
Victor Altamirano vs. Carlos Hernandez
Terrance McKinney vs. Fares Ziam
Ion Cutelaba vs. Ryan Spann
Gregory Rodrigues vs. Armen Petrosyan
Jonathan Martinez vs. Alejandro Perez
Micheal Gillmore vs. Jonny Parsons

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Micheal Gillmore sees second chance at UFC on ESPN 30 as must-win situation

Micheal Gillmore sees UFC on ESPN 30 as potentially his last chance to compete in the UFC.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Micheal Gillmore[/autotag] sees UFC on ESPN 30 as potentially his last chance to compete in the UFC.

After quitting his job to be on Season 29 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Gillmore (6-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) got the call as an alternate, but was quickly submitted in his fight against Gilbert Urbina.

Although his journey was cut short, he was rewarded for his persistence and will get another shot in the octagon when he takes on Andre Petroski (5-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) on Saturday. Gillmore knows he absolutely needs to make the most of the opportunity.

“I’m never comfortable things are just going to work out,” Gillmore told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at Wednesday’s media day at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “I really put in the work and effort to hopefully make those things into fruition. I’m going to go in there obviously to win. Coming into ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ and fighting so quick and just not getting the results I wanted, I don’t think I can afford to have a performance like that again and the UFC keep me around.

“That’s not their brand, so there is a little bit of pressure there to go out and perform. But it’s something that was eating at me already because I didn’t get to in the first place. Everything coming in – I will take the 10 days’ notice vs. two days’ notice. You have a little bit more time to process the feelings, the adrenaline, the excitement, all the things that come with it, and kind of ease into fight week having dealt with all of those initial emotions, where I didn’t really get that opportunity coming into the house.”

To see the full interview with Gillmore, check out the video above.

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UFC on ESPN 30 predictions: Who are our two unanimous picks?

Check out our staff members’ picks for the UFC on ESPN 30 main card, featuring Edson Barboza vs. Giga Chikadze.

	Barboza vs. Chikadze	Battle vs. Urbina	Hiestand vs. Turcios	Lee vs. Rodriguez	Gillmore vs. Petroski	Meerschaert vs. Muradov
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2021: 131-80	Barboza (53%)	Battle (64%)	Turcios (62%)	Rodriguez (58%)	Petroski (87%)	Muradov (82%)
John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2021: 135-76	Chikadze	Battle	Turcios	Lee	Petroski	Muradov
Simon Samano @SJSamano 2021: 133-78	Chikadze	Battle	Turcios	Lee	Petroski	Muradov
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2021: 130-81 2018 Champion	Chikadze	Battle	Turcios	Rodriguez	Petroski	Muradov
Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2021: 128-83 2020 Champion	Barboza	Battle	Turcios	Lee	Petroski	Muradov
Nolan King @mma_kings 2021: 127-84	Barboza	Battle	Turcios	Lee	Petroski	Muradov
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2021: 126-85	Chikadze	Battle	Hiestand	Rodriguez	Petroski	Muradov
Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2021: 125-86 2014 Champion	Barboza	Battle	Turcios	Lee	Petroski	Muradov
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2021: 123-88	Barboza	Battle	Turcios	Lee	Gillmore	Muradov
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 2021: 122-89	Barboza	Battle	Turcios	Lee	Petroski	Muradov
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2021: 121-90	Barboza	Battle	Turcios	Lee	Petroski	Muradov
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2021: 120-91	Barboza	Battle	Turcios	Lee	Petroski	Muradov
Brian Garcia @thegoze 2021: 119-92 2017 Champion	Chikadze	Battle	Hiestand	Lee	Petroski	Muradov
Matthew Wells @MrMWells 2021: 53-42	Chikadze	Battle	Turcios	Lee	Petroski	Muradov

The UFC is back in Las Vegas this week with a featherweight clash and a pair of “Ultimate Fighter” finals.

UFC on ESPN 30 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN+.

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

In the main event, [autotag]Edson Barboza[/autotag] (22-9 MMA, 16-9 UFC) takes on [autotag]Giga Chikadze[/autotag] (13-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in a battle of elite-level strikers. Barboza is a slight -125 favorite at Tipico, and he has the slimmest of leads in the picks from our 13 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers at 7-6.

In the co-feature, [autotag]Bryan Battle[/autotag] (5-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) meets [autotag]Gilbert Urbina[/autotag] (6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in the Season 29 “Ultimate Fighter” middleweight final. Battle is a -180 favorite at the betting window and one of two unanimous picks for our staff members on the main card.

In the second “TUF 29” final, [autotag]Brady Hiestand[/autotag] (5-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) takes on [autotag]Ricky Turcios[/autotag] (10-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at bantamweight. Turcios is a -160 favorite and has a big 11-2 edge in the picks.

Also on the main card, [autotag]Kevin Lee[/autotag] (18-6 MMA, 11-6 UFC) returns for a welterweight fight against [autotag]Daniel Rodriguez[/autotag] (15-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC). Lee is the favorite at -150 and has a commanding 11-2 picks lead – though it’s intriguing that Rodriguez won our fan poll handily at 58 percent.

“TUF 29” cast members [autotag]Micheal Gillmore[/autotag] (6-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and [autotag]Andre Petroski[/autotag] (5-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) meet in a middleweight bout to officially open their UFC careers. Petroski is the second biggest favorite on the card at -550, and only one of our staff members is picking against him.

And to open the main card, we have our second unanimous pick in [autotag]Makhmud Muradov[/autotag] (25-6 MMA, 3-0 UFC), who has pitched a 13-0 picks shutout for his middleweight fight against [autotag]Gerald Meerschaert[/autotag] (32-14 MMA, 7-6 UFC). Muradov is the biggest favorite on the card at -650.

In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Barboza (53 percent), Battle (64 percent), Turcios (62 percent), Rodriguez (58 percent), Petroski (87percent) and Muradov (82 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

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