It might come as a surprise that the
Ultimate Fighting Championship has not booked this matchup
before.
The UFC made official a short list of matches on Friday for UFC 316
on June 7. The promotion confirmed several bouts already reported,
including its headliner of Merab
Dvalishvili vs. Sean
O’Malley 2 and the co-main of Julianna
Pena vs. Kayla
Harrison. One new fight not previously on the books takes place
at 170 pounds, in the form of a banger between Vicente
Luque (23-10-1) and Kevin
Holland (27-13, 1 NC). The two contenders will throw down
inside of the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, likely as
part of the main card.
Although he has lost three out of five dating back to 2022, things
are not entirely grim for the well-traveled Luque. In his last
three outings, Luque took a decision over Rafael dos
Anjos in a five-rounder, succumbed to strikes from Joaquin
Buckley and rebounded in December by throttling Themba
Gorimbo with an anaconda choke. The submission, which took
place in under a minute, elevated the finish rate of “The Silent
Assassin” to a stellar 87%.
With plenty of struggles on his own side of the equation, Holland
bounced back into the win column in March by outworking Gunnar
Nelson on the scorecards. This put a pair of first-round
stoppage losses to Roman
Dolidze and Reinier
de Ridder at middleweight in the rear-view mirror. While not
quite as high as the Brazilian’s, “Trailblazer” has earned 81% of
his wins inside the distance.
UFC 316 goes down at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey,
on June 7. The main attraction comes in the form of a rematch
between Merab
Dvalishvili and Sean
O’Malley for the bantamweight throne. The co-headliner is also
for the bantamweight title, albeit for the ladies, as Julianna
Pena puts her strap on the line against Kayla
Harrison. Other bouts featured high on the billing include a
135-pound brawl between Marlon Vera
and Mario
Bautista, and a significant flyweight pairing when Joshua Van
faces Bruno
Silva.