Chase Hooper aims to string together UFC wins for the first when he meets Stephen Peterson on June 12.
[autotag]Chase Hooper[/autotag] is ready to return.
Hooper, one of the promotion’s bright, young prospects, will fight [autotag]Steven Peterson[/autotag] on June 12 at UFC 263, which does not yet have an announced venue or location.
Both fighters confirmed the booking on social media Monday following an initial report from BJPenn.com.
Hooper, 21, is coming off a third-round come-from-behind heel hook submission of Peter Barrett last December at UFC 256. Hooper (10-1-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has finished his past four wins and will look to string consecutive victories for the first time in his UFC tenure.
Fortis MMA’s Peterson (18-9 MMA, 2-3 UFC), 30, hasn’t competed since September 2019 when he snapped a two-fight losing skid with a “Performance of the Night” spinning backfist knockout of Martin Bravo.
With the addition, the UFC 263 lineup now includes:
Champion Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori – for middleweight title
Champion Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno – for flyweight title
An injury forces Steven Peterson out but opens the door for Collin Anglin.
[autotag]Collin Anglin[/autotag] has his UFC debut date and opponent set.
Stepping in on short notice for the injured [autotag]Steven Peterson[/autotag], Anglin (8-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will make his first UFC walk on Feb. 6 against South Korea’s [autotag]Seungwoo Choi[/autotag].
The UFC Fight Night event takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup informed MMA Junkie of the booking Friday but asked to remain anonymous, as the promotion has not made an official announcement.
BJPenn.com was the first to report Peterson’s withdrawal due to an injury. Korean outlet SpoTV was the first to report Anglin had stepped in.
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Anglin, 27, earned his UFC contract after an impressive performance on Dana White’s Contender Series in September when he defeated Muhammadjon Naimov by unanimous decision. The bout was praised heavily by UFC president Dana White.
Following back-to-back losses to kick off his UFC tenure, Choi (8-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) picked up his first promotional victory in December 2019 against Suman Mokhtarian. Choi was expected to fight Youssef Zalal in October 2020 but withdrew for unknown reasons.
With the change, the UFC Fight Night lineup for Feb. 6 now includes:
The UFC has signed “The Alpha Ginger,” and he’ll be making his short-notice promotional debut in Norfolk.
[autotag]Aalon Cruz[/autotag] won’t be facing his originally scheduled opponent, but he will stay on the UFC on ESPN+ 27 card.
With [autotag]Steven Peterson[/autotag] out, Cruz (8-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) now faces fellow promotional debutant [autotag]Spike Carlyle[/autotag]. A person with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the booking Thursday. The person asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an announcement.
Florida’s Cruz was signed to the UFC following a brutal flying knee knockout victory on last summer’s season of “Dana White’s Contender Series.” The 30-year-old fighter is riding a four-fight winning streak.
Carlyle (8-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) or, as he’s known to some, “The Alpha Ginger,” makes his UFC debut on a little over three weeks’ notice. A veteran of LFA, Carlyle has also won his most recent four outings.
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UFC on ESPN+ 27 takes place Feb. 29 at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Va. The card will stream on ESPN+.
The latest UFC on ESPN+ 27 lineup now includes:
Joseph Benavidez vs. Deiveson Figueiredo – for vacant flyweight title
A full recap of 2019’s most significant footnotes and milestones from the events, the fights and individual performances.
Now that the year has come to a close, and with a major assist from UFC research analyst and live statistics producers Michael Carroll, here are some of 2019’s most significant milestones from the events, the fights and individual performances.
* * * *
EVENTS
Octagon girls at UFC 238
The UFC held 42 events in 39 different cities across 15 countries and five continents.
Within those events, there were 516 fights across 13 different weight classes (including catchweight bouts).
Those 516 fights combined for a total cage time of 94:59:04.
The longest event of the year was “UFC on ESPN+ 19: Joanna vs. Waterson” in Tampa, Fla., at 2:57:27. It was the second longest in company history behind “UFC Fight Night 121: Werdum vs. Tybura” (3:04:18).
The shortest event of the year was “UFC on ESPN 3: Ngannou vs. Dos Santos” in Minneapolis at 1:38:12.
“UFC on ESPN+ 13: de Randamie vs. Ladd” featured 62 seconds of total fight time in the main and co-main event, the single-event record in company history.
At those events, the UFC drew an announced total attendance of 548,023 for a live gate total of $61,050,133.74 (Note: Live gate was not announced for 11 events; no attendance was revealed for one event).
The highest reported attended event of the year was “UFC 243: Whittaker vs. Adesanya” in Melbourne (57,127), which was the all-time company record, while the lowest attended event was “UFC on ESPN+ 20: Maia vs. Askren” in Singapore (7,155).
The highest reported income gate of the year was “UFC 244: Masvidal vs. Diaz” in New York ($6,575,996.19) while the lowest reported income gate of the year went to “UFC on ESPN+ 4: Lewis vs. Dos Santos” in Wichita, Kan. ($636,417.26).
In 2019, 168 fight-night bonuses were given out for a sum of $8.4 million.
The most knockouts at a single event went to “UFC on ESPN 3: Ngannou vs. Dos Santos,” “UFC 244: Masvidal vs. Diaz” and “UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington” with seven each.
Henry Cejudo vs. Marlon Moraes
“UFC 238: Cejudo vs. Moraes” featured a total of 1,818 significant strikes landed, a new single-event record. UFC 231 held the previous high with 1,647.
The most submissions at a single event went to “UFC on ESPN 5: Covington vs. Lawler” with five.
The most fights to go to a decision at a single event went to “UFC on ESPN 4: Dos Anjos vs. Edwards” with 10.
“UFC on ESPN 4: Dos Anjos vs. Edwards” featured nine consecutive decision results, tied for the single-event UFC record.
“UFC on ESPN 4: Dos Anjos vs. Edwards” started with nine consecutive decision results, the single-event record.
“UFC on ESPN 7: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik” marked the third event in company history to feature two draws. UFC 22 and UFC 216 were the others.
Betting favorites went 319-182. Fifteen fights ended in a draw, no contest or had even odds.
Betting favorites went 22-18 in event headliners. Two fights ended in a no contest or had even odds.
“UFC on ESPN 3: Ngannou vs. Dos Santos” and “UFC on ESPN+ 22: Blachowicz vs. Jacare” had the most favorites come through victorious, with 10 each. On the flip side, seven underdogs won at three separate events.
Aspen Ladd
A total of 30 fighters officially missed weight for their respective contests. The 28 fighters in that group to compete went 10-17-1 in their respective bouts.
A total of 135 fighters made their UFC debut in 2019. Those fighters went 57-74-2 with two no contests. Debuting fighters who faced an opponent with at least one bout of UFC experience went 43-58-2 with two no contests.
A variety of circumstances caused a total of 19 UFC main event or co-main event fights to be adjusted, postponed or canceled entirely.
One entire event was canceled (UFC 233 in January in Anaheim, Calif.)
