The
Ultimate Fighting Championship is hoping the third date of June
8 sticks for Raul Rosas
Jr. and Ricky
Turcios.
A UFC
Fight Night card scheduled to go down at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas on June 8 will feature a pair of newly booked clashes in the
bantamweight and welterweight divisions. 19-year-old Rosas Jr.
(8-1) will take on Turcios (12-3) in a bantamweight attraction that
has fallen apart two times in the past, while Punahele
Soriano (9-4) will lock horns with Miguel
Baeza (10-3) in a 170-pound clash. News of both bouts was first
reported by MMA Fighting in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter).
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Rosas Jr. and Turcios were initially slated to face off at
UFC Mexico City, however, Rosas Jr. was forced to withdraw at
the last minute when succumbing to illness. While the two were
rescheduled to fight the following week, the matchup failed to come
to fruition.
“El Nino Problema” will enter the Octagon on the heels of an
emphatic 54-second technical knockout victory over Terrence
Mitchell in September 2023. The victory marked the
Californian’s return to winning ways after suffering his first
professional to Christian
Rodriguez at
UFC 287.
Turcios is coming off a split decision victory over Kevin
Natividad in November 2022 and he has not competed since. Prior
to his win over Natividad, Turcios sustained his first UFC loss
against Aiemann
Zahabi in the same year.
In other action, Soriano will make his welterweight debut against
Baeza after going 1-4 in his last five at middleweight. The
31-year-old most recently tapped out to a rear-naked choke from
Dustin
Stoltzfus in December, and is attempting to change his fortunes
with a shift in weight class.
Standing across from him will be Florida’s Baeza, who is currently
on a three-fight losing streak, most recently succumbing to strikes
from Andre
Fialho in April 2022. The 31-year-old will look to get back to
the win column after over two years off when he welcomes Soriano to
the welterweight division.