A torch may be passed atop the Ultimate Fighting Championship event in
mid-June.
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On Wednesday, KOlmenero
first reported on Twitter that Josh Emmett
(18-3) vs. Ilia
Topuria (13-0) would headline the
UFC Fight Night event on June 17. The news of this
featherweight main attraction has been subsequently confirmed by
other outlets on Thursday, but the location and venue have not
yet been made public. The only two other bouts on the billing thus
far come at flyweight, when Alessandro
Costa faces Jimmy Flick
and Tereza
Bleda takes on Gabriella
Fernandes.
Emmett found his five-fight win streak come to a crashing halt in
February when he vied for an interim featherweight strap against
Yair
Rodriguez. After getting battered on the feet for the good part
of two rounds, Emmett succumbed to a triangle choke from the
Mexican competitor to suffer his first career submission defeat.
That loss for the 38-year-old followed wins over the likes of
Calvin
Kattar, Dan Ige and
Shane
Burgos as he worked his way back up the division’s ranks. The
Team Alpha Male product has never lost two fights in a row.
Unbeaten Topuria has surged through his opposition since making his
promotional debut in 2020. With five wins inside the Octagon under
his belt over increasingly difficult competition, the Georgian
contender born in Germany and currently living in Spain most
recently handed Bryce
Mitchell his first ever loss. In their pairing, the 26-year-old
Topuria outgrappled the submission specialist to submit “Thug
Nasty” with an arm-triangle choke. As a pro, Topuria has performed
12 finishes across his 13 wins, needing no more than 9:10 to get
the job done in any of his stoppages.