Streaking bantamweights will collide in June.
The UFC is targeting a matchup between Umar Nurmagomedov and Nate Maness for UFC Fight Night on June 25, which is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
A person with knowledge of the booking informed MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Reporter James Lynch was first to share the news Thursday.
Also unbeaten like his cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov, 26-year-old Umar (14-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) has notched two submission wins to kick off his octagon tenure, choking out Sergey Morozov and most recently Brian Kelleher at UFC 272 in March.
Maness (14-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is on a hot run of his own. The 30-year-old has won his past four in a row, notching two straight “Performance of the Night” bonuses. He’s coming off a come-from-behind finish of Tony Gravely this past September at UFC Fight Night 192.
With the addition, the UFC’s June 25 lineup now includes:
- Amir Albazi vs. Tim Elliott
- Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Jinh Yu Frey
- Alan Baudot vs. Josh Parisian
- Chris Curtis vs. Rodolfo Vieira
- Tyson Nam vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
- Neil Magny vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
- Sergey Morozov vs. Raulian Paiva
- Christos Giagos vs. Thiago Moises
- Mateusz Gamrot vs. Arman Tsarukyan
- Nate Maness vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
