The UFC doesn’t quite have every fight secured for its next two events, but still an announcement was made Friday about what’s to come.
UFC president Dana White revealed the lineups for UFC on ESPN 11 and UFC on ESPN 12 during an interview with broadcast partner ESPN. Both events will take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and be simulcast on ESPN and ESPN+.
UFC on ESPN 11, which takes place June 20, has been finalized with 12 fights and is headlined by a heavyweight clash between [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] and [autotag]Alexander Volkov[/autotag], with both men looking to take a step toward a title shot. Blaydes will head into the headliner riding a three-fight winning streak, although his two career losses are to No. 1 contender Francis Ngannou.
“The heavyweight division is finally heating up here,” White said. “Get that title fight out there and then find out who’s next. Obviously Ngannou is the man right now. No matter what happens with Curtis Blaydes, he’s lost to Ngannou twice.”
UFC on ESPN 12, which takes place June 27, currently has 10 fights booked witha complete main card that features a pivotal lightweight main event between former interim champion [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] and surging [autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag]. Poirer hasn’t fought since losing to champion Khabib Nurmagomedov last September in their title unification bout at UFC 242, which snapped a five-fight winning streak. Hooker, meanwhile, is on a three-fight winning streak and most recently won a hard-fought split decision over Paul Felder this past February.
“This is an important fight for both guys,” White said. “Obviously Poirier wants to get a shot at that title. And if Hooker comes in and beats Poirier, he (will have) finally arrived. He (will be) one of the top five guys in the world and on his way to a title fight.”
UFC on ESPN 11 lineup includes:
- MAIN CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
- Curtis Blaydes vs. Alexander Volkov
- Shane Burgos vs. Josh Emmett
- Raquel Pennington vs. Marion Reneau
- Lyman Good vs. Belal Muhammad
- Jim Miller vs. Roosevelt Roberts
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 5 p.m. ET)
- Bobby Green vs. Clay Guida
- Tecia Torres vs. Brianna Van Buren
- Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Oskar Piechota
- Cortney Casey vs. Gillian Robertson
- Frank Camacho vs. Matt Frevola
- Roxanne Modafferi vs. Lauren Murphy
- Austin Hubbard vs. Joe Solecki
UFC on ESPN 12 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
- Dustin Poirier vs. Dan Hooker
- Mickey Gall vs. Mike Perry
- Brendan Allen vs. Ian Heinisch
- Maurice Greene vs. Gian Villante
- Aspen Ladd vs. Sara McMann
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
- Viviane Araujo vs. Jennifer Maia
- Luis Pena vs. Khama Worthy
- Tanner Boser vs. Philipe Lins
- Alexa Grasso vs. Ji Yeon Kim
- Kyle Nelson vs. Sean Woodson