Two grapplers in the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight
division will have 25 minutes to make their mark in June.
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Per the UFC’s broadcast partner of ESPN
on Thursday, Jack
Hermansson (23-8) and Brendan
Allen (21-5) will be squaring off in the main event of an
upcoming UFC Fight Night event on June 3. The event, which may or
may not be airing on the main ESPN airwaves, does not currently
have a venue or location on the books. Hermansson was quick to post
about the news on his
Instagram Stories shortly after it broke.
Sweden’s Hermansson has alternated wins and losses in his last
eight outings dating back to 2019, with victories over names like
Ronaldo
Souza and Kelvin
Gastelum interspersed by defeats against Marvin
Vettori and Roman
Dolidze. In his last time out, Dolidze trapped him with an
unorthodox leglock and pounded him out, but before then, he snagged
a unanimous decision over Chris
Curtis. “The Joker” has seen 74% of his career wins ends before
the final bell, with 10 first-round stoppages to his credit.
“All In” Allen saw his stock shoot way up when he stepped in on
short notice to headline UFC Fight Night 220 in February against
Andre
Muniz. The Kill Cliff FC-based fighter outlasted his
submission-savvy Brazilian opponent to record the third-round
rear-naked choke, and became the first fighter to submit Muniz in
the process. Allen is currently riding a four-fight win streak
since the beginning of 2022, with three rear-naked chokes – one in
the first round, one in the second and one in Round 3 – on his
ledger. Allen surpasses Hermansson’s finish rate, with 81% of his
wins by knockout or submission, since making his pro debut in
2015.
The UFC Fight Night event on June 3 does not have a location or
venue to play host yet, but it does have several other fights
currently registered to its billing. In addition to a recently
announced strawweight pairing between Jinh Yu
Frey and Elise Reed,
Miesha
Tate will take on Mayra
Bueno Silva at bantamweight likely on the main card. Other
bouts include Amir Albazi
vs. Kai Kara
France in an important flyweight attraction, while Tim Elliott
and Allan
Nascimento also dance at 125 pounds.