The Ultimate Fighting Championship is no stranger to middleweight main events outside of Las Vegas.
The promotion announced the near-complete lineup for UFC Louisville, also known as UFC on ESPN 57, through a press release in April. The fight card to be held at KFC Yum!, the center in Louisville, Kentucky, has confirmed a number of previously announced matchups and shed light on several others as well. Notably, that release will feature Dominick Reyes (12-4) and Dustin Jacoby (19-8-1) competing in the light heavyweight co-main attractions, while Andrea Lee (13-9) (Loss) and Montana Delarosa (12-9) will be thrown down in the early qualifying rounds in the flyweight division.
Immediately after the press release was issued, mixed martial arts enthusiast announced the news that the main event will take place between Jared Cannonier (17-6) and Nasouddin Imavov (13-4, 1 NC) at 185 pounds. The June 8 fight was confirmed by other media outlets on Thursday.
This will be Cannonier’s first main attraction appearance in almost a year, following his decision victory over Marvin Vettori in Las Vegas. The former heavyweight has won two straight, including a split call over future champion Sean Strickland. Since joining the major stage in 2015, Cannonier had never pushed past three consecutive wins.
France’s Imavov capped off a tough 2023 by defeating Roman Dorise in five rounds in February. Before that, he and Chris Curtis collided resulting in a no contest. The MMA Factory product fell short to Strickland at the hands of the judges before getting a no contest. Both athletes praise his completion rate as being around 70%.
The co-main game between Reyes and Jacoby will take place between two 205ers who have lost seven of their last eight meetings. The former title challenger has lost four straight since losing a close decision to Jon Jones in 2020, but Jacoby’s only win in his last four fights came against Kennedy Nizechuk in August 2023. It’s a win. The same goes for struggling flyweights Lee and de la Rosa. Lee lost four tournaments in a row, while de la Rosa won one of the four tournaments. They will look to bounce back from 2019, when Lee won by unanimous decision.
