Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. A burgeoning
Ultimate Fighting Championship star is set to make a quick
turnaround in April. The UFC announced on Thursday from a press release and later on its
Twitter
page that Julian
Marquez (8-2) will be stepping up to take on Sam Alvey
(33-14-1, 1 NC) in just under a month. The two will square off at
middleweight at
UFC on ABC 2, which takes place on April 10 at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas. Alvey was originally slated to face Zak
Cummings, but the latter withdrew for currently undisclosed
reasons and has been replaced by his Glory MMA & Fitness teammate Marquez.
Marquez made his triumphant return to form after over two and a
half years away by submitting Maki Pitolo
at UFC 258. Marquez endeared himself to fans after his performance
by calling out pop star Miley Cyrus, asking her to be his valentine
— she later agreed, with a caveat. The win, his first since 2017,
helped maintain his perfect finish rate at 100 percent. The
anaconda choke coming at 4:17 of Round 3, it was the first time
“The Cuban Missile Crisis” had ever recorded a finish beyond the
second frame. Both of Marquez’ setbacks, including his prior defeat
to Alessio
Di Chirico in 2018, have come on the scorecards.
Alvey will be looking to right the ship after a rough five fights
dating back to 2018, where he has not won. Four losses and a draw
over the last few years have given “Smile’n Sam” little to smile
about, as he suffered knockouts losses to Jimmy Crute
and Antonio
Rogerio Nogueira along the way. His most recent performance was
scored a draw against Da Un Jung
at UFC 254, where his performance split judges down the middle as
one awarded a 10-8 Round 3 for Jung. The Team Quest fighter will be
returning to middleweight for the first time since he faced
Rashad
Evans in 2017 – a later appearance against Ramazan
Emeev saw Alvey miss weight and therefore took place at a
189-pound catchweight.
The second UFC on ABC event will go down at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas, with a high-stakes middleweight tilt pitting Darren Till
against Marvin
Vettori as the headliner. Drawing the co-main assignment will
be another major divisional matchup, this time at featherweight
between Sodiq
Yusuff and Arnold
Allen. The current 15-fight lineup will hold seven bouts on the
main card, including Alvey vs. Marquez.
