Two exciting showdowns in the talent-rich
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s bantamweight division will
treat fans next month in Hotlanta.
Raoni
Barcelos (19-5) announced on social media on
Wednesday that he had been booked against former bantamweight
kingpin Cody
Garbrandt (14-6) in a battle of divisional stalwarts. The two
are set to tangle at UFC Atlanta, also known as
UFC on ESPN 69, on June 14 at the State Farm Arena.
Additionally, another pair of bantamweights will throw down on the
same lineup, as Eurosport
NL reported Wednesday night that Ricky Simon
(21-6) and Charles
Jourdain (16-8-1) will throw down as well. Simon has since
confirmed
the match on Thursday.
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Garbrandt saw a promising win streak built in 2023 come to
screeching halt in 2024 when Deiveson
Figueiredo tapped him in two rounds at UFC 300. The former
beltholder had struggled significantly before beating Trevin
Jones and Brian
Kelleher, surrendering his throne to T.J.
Dillashaw and ultimately losing four of his next five. Of note,
he did starch Raphael
Assuncao in a “Knockout of the Year” candidate only beaten by
the sensational spinning back kick from Joaquin
Buckley against Impa
Kasanganay that same year.
Similar to his opponent, Barcelos fell on hard times from 2021 to
2023, losing four of five. The Brazilian rebounded in a big way by
landing his first submission since 2018 when he hit a rear-naked
choke on Cristian
Quinonez. Perhaps most significantly, Barcelos performed the
largest betting upset in the promotion this year by beating
undefeated prospect Payton
Talbott on the scorecards in January.
Simon put a three-fight skid in the rear-view mirror when he
knocked out Javid
Basharat in February. Those three losses came to solid talents
in Yadong
Song, Mario
Bautista and Vinicius
Oliveira. Before the trio of setbacks, Simon had amassed a
five-fight win streak over names including Assuncao and Ray Borg.
Jourdain too ended a skid recently when he guillotined Victor
Henry at UFC Fight Night 246 in November. The Canadian pushed
his overall career finish rate to 87% with that submission.
UFC Atlanta will go down at the State Farm Arena in the capital
city of Georgia, with a welterweight headliner in tow as Kamaru
Usman collides with Joaquin
Buckley. The co-main event comes at 125 pounds between Rose
Namajunas and Miranda
Maverick. Other featured matchups include a middleweight
excursion when Edmen
Shahbazyan faces Andre
Petroski, and a 205-pound banger as Alonzo
Menifield comes to blows with Oumar Sy.