The currently unnamed
Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view in May has just
made some major additions.
Three bouts were added the last few days to UFC 262,
which will take place on May 15 presumably at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas. The event does not have a headliner, but it has a few
significant matches to bolster it including a lightweight clash
between Tony
Ferguson (25-5) and Beneil
Dariush (20-4-1), as reported by
MMA Junkie on Friday. UFC’s broadcast partner ESPN
subsequently confirmed that this booking was being finalized
shortly after the news broke.
Ferguson, once the proud owner of a spectacular 12-fight win streak
where he captured an interim lightweight belt only to lose it due
to injury, has fallen on hard times in 2020. “El Cucuy,” who is
currently on the first multiple-bout skid of his career, vied for
the interim strap once again against Justin
Gaethje at UFC 249, only to fall short while suffering his
first career knockout loss. Ferguson returned to the Octagon seven
months later, and dropped a one-sided decision verdict to Charles
Oliveira at UFC 256. Ferguson, who posts a high career finish
rate of 80 percent, has notched victories over Rafael dos
Anjos, Edson
Barboza and Anthony
Pettis over the years, to name a few.
Unlike Ferguson’s currently run, Dariush has found nothing but
success since a quick knockout loss to Alexander
Hernandez in 2018. Since then, the
Kings MMA standout has rattled off six consecutive victories,
but none more significant than a close battle with Diego
Ferreira in a rematch of their 2015 meeting this past February.
On his way up the division, Dariush scored a spinning backfist
knockout of Scott
Holtzman, making him the eighth UFC fighter to finish an
opponent with this strike.
This tilt joins a previously reported middleweight scrap between
Jamie
Pickett (11-5) and Jordan
Wright (11-1, 1 NC), which was subsequently confirmed by
Pickett on his Instagram. Pickett
did not have a successful UFC debut in 2020, as the three-time
Dana White’s Contender Series alum finally made
it to the big stage only to drop a decision to Tafon
Nchukwi. His opponent Wright also suffered a loss his last time
out, dropping his first career fight when Joaquin
Buckley put him away with punches early into the second frame.
Wright has still never competed beyond the 48-second mark of Round
2 as a pro.
Finally, another lightweight pairing in the form of Christos
Giagos (18-8) vs. Joel
Alvarez (18-2) will also be held on the card. This bout was
first reported by
Milenio on Thursday, and then confirmed by Giagos on his own
Instagram
page. “The Spartan” rebounded from a decision loss in 2019 to
Drakkar
Klose by outpointing Carlton
Minus in December. Spain’s Alvarez has notched three
consecutive stoppages over Danilo
Belluardo, Joseph
Duffy and Alexander
Yakovlev since his losing Octagon debut against Damir
Ismagulov in 2019.
UFC 262 will take place on May 15 likely in the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas, unless the organization decides to travel back to Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates. There is no current headliner, and the
highest billed matchup at the moment is Ferguson vs. Dariush. In
another high-stakes tilt, this one at featherweight, Edson
Barboza squares off with Shane
Burgos in a sure-fire “Fight of the Night” candidate. Also on
the card is a significant flyweight contest pitting former title
challenger Alex Perez
against Matt
Schnell.
