Gregory J. Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is close to finalizing a pivotal bantamweight showdown between No. 1-ranked Marlon Moraes and No. 3-ranked Petr Yan, a clash of 135-pound title contenders that is likely to headline the UFC Fight Night 177 mixed martial arts (MMA) event on Sat., June 13, 2020 inside Astana Arena in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
That’s according to a report from MMA Junkie.
Moraes (23-6-1) is coming off his controversial decision win over former featherweight champion, Jose Aldo, at the UFC 245 pay-per-view (PPV) last December in Las Vegas, which somehow propelled “Junior” into the next bantamweight title shot.
Maybe Aldo should take the nickname “Magic.”
As for Yan (14-1), he’s been nothing short of perfect inside the Octagon, racking up six straight wins, including his destruction of Urijah Faber, which also took place at UFC 245. “No Mercy” hails from nearby Yekaterinburg?, Russia, and is likely to attract local fans.
Nothing is official at this time and the promotion has yet to make an official announcement; however, you can expect that to change sooner, rather than later.