Lo noquea! @NewMansa94
con otro tremendo KO!!!
#UFC255 pic.twitter.com/dZXpe4VmYu— ufcespanol (@UFCEspanol)
November 22, 2020
Two middleweight bouts have been added to the Ultimate Fighting
Championship’s UFC Fight Night
184”>Jan. 16 lineup, as Joaquin
Buckley will meet Alessio
Di Chirico, while Phil Hawes
will face Nassourdine
Imavov.
MMAjunkie.com was first to report Buckley vs. Di Chirico, while
MMA
DNA initially brought word of Hawes vs. Imavov. The event takes
place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a
featherweight clash pitting Max
Holloway against Calvin
Kattar. At least a portion of the event is expected to be
broadcast on ABC.
After being stopped by Kevin
Holland in his Octagon debut, Buckley emerged as one of 2020’s
breakout fighters thanks to back-to-back knockouts of Impa
Kasanganay and Jordan
Wright. The KO of Kasanganay went viral and will likely end up
on many year-end lists when all is said and done. “New Mansa” is
12-3 over the course of a career that also includes stints in
Legacy Fighting Alliance and Bellator MMA.
Italy’s Di Chirico enters the matchup with Buckley hoping to stop a
three-bout losing streak within the Las Vegas-based promotion. In
his lone appearance of 2020, the 31-year-old suffered a unanimous
decision loss to Zak
Cummings at UFC Fight Night 175. Prior to that, “Manzo” dropped
decisions to Makhmud
Muradov and Holland in 2019. He is 3-5 in the Octagon and 12-5
as a professional overall.
Hawes earned a UFC contract with a 78-second TKO of Khadzhimurat
Bestaev on Dana White’s Contender Series this past August
before scoring an 18-second KO of Jacob
Malkoun in his promotional debut at UFC 254. That gives the
31-year-old Sanford MMA representative a five-fight winning streak
heading into his sophomore Octagon appearance.
Imavov was also successful in his first promotional foray, as he
outpointed Jordan
Williams at UFC on ESPN 16. The 25-year-old MMA Factory product
has been victorious in his last six professional outings.