Two standouts from Dana White’s Contender Series are set to collide inside the UFC cage.
At UFC Fight Night on July 31, Michigan’s [autotag]Collin Anglin[/autotag] and Armenia’s [autotag]Melsik Baghdasaryan[/autotag] will square off in a featherweight matchup. The fight will mark both men’s promotional debuts.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Anglin (8-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) earned his UFC deal last September when he won a gritty unanimous decision against Muhammadjon Naimov. The victory extended his winning streak to seven. He was scheduled to make his promotional debut in February vs. Seung Woo Choi but withdrew.
A standout professional kickboxer, Baghdasaryan (5-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) entered the MMA world full force in 2019 and won four fights within the calendar year. In September 2020, he defeated Long Island’s Dennis Buzukja via unanimous decision but did not earn a contract. In March, the promotion elected to sign Baghdasaryan anyway.
With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for July 31 includes:
- Bryan Barberena vs. Jason Witt
- Jinh Yu Frey vs. Istela Nunes
- Rafa Garcia vs. Chris Gruetzmacher
- Collin Anglin vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqvpne7c1q486dvv player_id=none image=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]