Finally a game opponent!!! February 13
#ufc258
The Cuban Missile Crisis vs
Coconut bombs
An explosive match up to spark off a PPV event @ufc @Coconut_bombz
#ufc258 pic.twitter.com/nHQeOCb666— Julian marquez (@JMarquezMMA)
December 4, 2020
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 fun brawl between excellently nicknamed
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweights has been added to
the February pay-per-view card.
MMA Junkie first announced on Friday that Julian
Marquez (7-2) would be taking on Maki Pitolo
(13-7) at UFC
258 on Feb. 13. According to Marquez, who confirmed the pairing
on Twitter
shortly after the news broke, the battle will take place on the
main card opener. The two will meet presumably on Yas Island in Abu
Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, although that destination has not yet
been confirmed by the promotion.
Marquez is chomping at the bit to get back in the cage, as he last
competed in July 2018 and suffered a major shoulder injury that
kept him out of action for nearly two and a half years. Marquez
planned on competing in November against Saparbek
Safarov, but the Russian’s failed weight cut scuttled the
matchup. Now, Marquez, who sports a 100 percent finish rate, will
be competing three months after the Safarov fight disintegrated.
“The Cuban Missile Crisis” will be looking to get back in the win
column, as his previous performance ended with a split decision
loss to Alessio
Di Chirico at the “The Ultimate Fighter: Season 27” Finale.
When Marquez last competed, Pitolo was on the Bellator MMA roster, with a one-fight stint against
Chris
Cisneros at Bellator 213. Like Marquez, Pitolo gained his place
on the UFC roster with an impressive showing on Dana White’s Contender Series. “Coconut Bombz”
has not been as successful since clobbering Justin
Sumter in 2019, however, dropping three of four inside the
Octagon including a current two-fight skid to Darren
Stewart and Impa
Kasanganay in August. Although not as high as his opponent’s,
the Hawaiian sports a solid finish rate of 77 percent.
UFC 258 will likely go down at the Flash Forum on Yas Island in Abu
Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Feb. 13. The event is expected to
be headlined by a welterweight championship affair between Kamaru
Usman and Gilbert
Burns. A high-stakes rematch sits on the main card as well, as
Chris
Weidman runs it back with the resurgent Uriah Hall at
middleweight.
