Sterling v Munhoz, Rivera v Yan. UFC 238 is turning into a bantamweight tournament of sorts. More: https://t.co/mpzy55Ww1P
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 5, 2019
The Ultimate Fighting Championship appears to be putting together a de facto tournament at bantamweight, adding two huge divisional matchups to UFC 238 in June.
According to ESPN late Thursday, two major bouts at bantamweight are being targeted for the UFC 238 card in Chicago on June 8. Aljamain Sterling (17-3) will face Pedro Munhoz (18-3, 1 NC), and Jimmie Rivera (22-3) will clash with Petr Yan (12-1) at the event. Serving as the headliner of UFC 238 will be a vacant bantamweight title fight between flyweight champion Henry Cejudo and Marlon Moraes, so the winners of the aforementioned bouts could very well be in title contention.
Sterling has won his last three, with decisions over Rivera and Brett Johns and a rare “Suloev Stretch” modified kneebar over Cody Stamann along the way. Sterling was the second fighter in UFC history to ever pull off the move first demonstrated inside the Octagon by Kenny Robertson in 2013, although fellow UFC 228 competitor Zabit Magomedsharipov used the same maneuver to submit an opponent later that night.
Munhoz finished his last two opponents in the first round, stopping Bryan Caraway with a body kick and follow-up punches, and most recently, flattening former champ Cody Garbrandt at UFC 235 in March to earn “Fight of the Night” for his efforts. In his 23-fight career, Munhoz has never been finished, with his only losses coming at the hands of the judges against John Dodson, Rivera and Raphael Assuncao.
Rivera was riding a 20-fight win streak leading into his bout with Moraes last June, and was knocked out in 33 seconds, giving him his first career stoppage loss. Since the defeat, Rivera has earned a decision victory over Dodson and dropped a decision to Sterling in February. Rivera has reached the scorecards in 18 of his 25 career bouts, and has a winning percentage of .889 when getting there.
Yan made a splash in his UFC debut last June, putting away Teruto Ishihara in under four minutes and handing the durable Japanese fighter his first knockout loss. Winner of all four of his fights inside the Octagon, Yan engaged in a “Fight of the Night” battle where he beat Jin Soo Son by decision, knocked out Douglas Silva Andrade and most recently, earned a unanimous decision verdict over Dodson in February.
UFC 238 will take place on June 8 at the United Center in Chicago. Headlining the event will be a bantamweight title affair between flyweight champ Henry Cejudo and Marlon Moraes. Serving as the co-main event is a women’s flyweight championship scrap between Valentina Shevchenko and Jessica Eye. The main card will air on pay-per-view, while prelims will be held on ESPN and UFC Fight Pass.