UFC Announces Pivotal Fights In Summer Kickoff

UFC Announces Pivotal Fights In Summer Kickoff

Current and former UFC champions are back in action as the UFC announced its Summer Kickoff Series.

May 13, 2017 by FloCombat Staff
UFC Announces Pivotal Fights In Summer Kickoff
The UFC held a Summer Kickoff press conference on Friday, May 12 - the day before UFC 211 - to announce a slew of summer fights that will fill the schedule between May and July.

While the much anticipated rematch between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier was the highlight, multiple other bouts had fans in attendance salivating. Included among them were a stellar lightweight bout between Justin Gaethje and Michael Johnson at The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale, as well as a UFC on FOX 25 headliner between Kelvin Gastelum and Chris Weidman.

It was also announced that UFC women's bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes would defend her title against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 213.

Gaethje will be making his UFC debut against Johnson after a decorated career in World Series of Fighting where he made a name for himself as a fan favorite. Johnson has lost three of his last four, including a drubbing at the hands of Khabib Nurmagomedov in November of 2016.

Both Weidman and Gastelum are coming off bizarre bouts, with Weidman losing to Mousasi at UFC 210 via controversial referee stoppage and Gastelum having a TKO victory over Vitor Belfort overturned for testing positive for marijuana. The bout will take place at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, Weidman's home town.

Nunes will be making the second defense of her title after destroying former division kingpin Ronda Rousey in December of 2016. Shevchenko has put together two straight wins since her March 2016 loss to Nunes, including a decision victory over former champion Holly Holm and a submission victory over top contender Julianna Pena.

Hold onto your seats, fight fans. This is gonna be fun.