UFC Louisville Start Time, Full Fight Details!

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is once again hitting the road to stage UFC Louisville later TONIGHT (Sat., June 8, 2024) inside KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Headlining the ESPN+-streamed event will be a Middleweight fight between Jared Cannonier vs. Nassourdine Imavov. In the co-main event, Dominick Reyes returns to face Dustin Jacoby in a Light Heavyweight affair.

What’s Hot:

After failing to win UFC gold for the first time, coming up short to former Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 276 in July 2022, Cannonier bounced back nicely by defeating Sean Strickland and Marvin Vettori in back-to-back outings. Now, “Killa Gorilla” is eying his first three-fight win streak since 2019 in hopes of climbing the ranks and bullying his way into another title fight. Currently ranked No. 4 in the division, Cannonier will attempt to hand Imavov just his third loss inside the Octagon.

Imavov has been on a nice, quiet run under the UFC banner, amassing a 5-2-1 record so far and is coming off a majority decision win over Roman Dolidze earlier this year. With the Middleweight division being wide open, Imavov has a chance to jump into the Top 5 and start making his way toward title shot conversations. This is perhaps his chance to pick up the biggest win of his career because of what it can bring him, but a loss could send him tumbling down a few spots. And Cannonier is no joke, holding the No. 4 spot for a reason. His Heavyweight power translates well now that he is a Middleweight, so Imavov must be light on his feet and keep his head on a swivel to prevent getting clipped. This is a big fight for both men’s prospects of being considered a title contender.

What’s Not:

Charles Radtke is currently enjoying a six-fight win streak, which includes winning his first two fights under the UFC banner. Radtke will look to keep his hot streak going when he takes on Carlos Prates, who has an even better streak going with eight straight wins, which includes winning his UFC debut over Trevin Giles, knocking him out in the second round. For my money, a matchup like this between two surging up-and-comers is one that deserves a main card opening spot, not buried on the prelims. I get they don’t have the biggest names, but give them the shine they deserve based on their respective win streaks.

Original Card Vs. Actual Card:

The aforementioned Dolidze was originally paired up to face Michel Pereira, but it seems as if UFC could never get the two parties to agree to the fight and date.

Injuries:

There were no injuries reported for this event .

New Blood:

Rayanne dos Santos didn’t get off on the fight foot in her UFC debut, losing to Talita Alencar via split decision, which also snapped her four-fight win streak. The former Invicta FC Atomweight champion is out to get her first win with the promotion when she battles Puja Tomar, who will be the lone UFC newcomer at this event. “The Cyclone” is on a four-fight win streak and has finished her last three opponents.

How The ‘Prelims Look’

Thiago Moises and Ludovit Klein will headline a packed undercard in a Lightweight bout. Moises is currently on a nice run having gone 3-1 in his last four fights, but in the 155-pound division it’s very hard to get into the rankings, so all he can do is keep on plugging along. As for Klein, he is 4-0-1 in his last five fights, so he can add to his momentum by taking out the veteran in impressive fashion.

In further Bantamweight action, Brad Katona and Jesse Butler will face off in a battle of two men who recently had their win streaks snapped. Katona was riding high with five-straight wins before running into Garrett Armfield in Canada. As for Butler, his five-fight win streak went up in smoke thanks to Jim Miller, who knocked him out in just 23 seconds a year ago in what was his UFC debut (see it again here).

Undefeated (15-0-1, 2-0 UFC) 135-pound contender, Daniel Marcos, is out to get his 16-straight win when he goes up against John Castaneda, who is on a two-fight win streak. In another Bantamweight affair, Cody Stamann eyes a trip back to the winner’s circle after losing to Douglas Silva de Andrade over a year ago. He will face Taylor Lapilus, who had his six-fight win streak snapped by Farid Basharat earlier this year.

Eduarda Mora missed weight for her women’s Strawweight bout against Denise Gomes. The undefeated (10-0) fighter made a splash in her UFC debut by defeating Montserrat Ruiz, which was her ninth finish in ten bouts. As for Gomes, she is coming off a loss after coming up short against Angela Hill in Nov. 2023. The fight will go on at a catchweight of 116.5 lbs, but Mora will lose 20-percent of her fight purse and will be ineligible to win a $50,000 post-fight bonus award.

Who Needs A Win Badly:

Andrea Lee and Montana De La Rosa will be fighting one another, and for their UFC lives. Lee has lost four straight and is just 2-7 in her last nine fights, while De La Rosa finds herself on a three-fight losing streak. The loser of this fight could very well get her walking papers, and an invite back will be hard to get.

Interest Level:

It’s a fairly decent fight card with some nice matchups to satisfy your combat hunger. One-time Light Heavyweight title contender Dominick Reyes returns after 19 months on the sidelines, and he faces an arduous task as he attempts to get back into the win column for the first time since 2019 in the co-main event against Dustin Jacoby. You read that correctly, “The Dominator” has not had his hand raised in victory since knocking out Chris Weidman in 2019 (replay here). Since then he has lost four straight, including his lone title fight against Jon Jones, and then getting stopped via strikes in his next three bouts against Jan Blachowicz, Jiri Prochazka, and Ryan Spann. If he doesn’t get a win against Jacoby, it could be the end of the UFC road for him. Speaking of which, Jacoby needs a win here himself because he is just 1-3 in his last four outings.

Raul Rosas Jr. returns to action in what will be his fourth fight inside the Octagon to face Ricky Turcios in a Bantamweight affair. Rosas is coming off a 54-second knockout win over Terrence Mitchell, while Turcios squeaked out a split-decision win over Kevin Natividad in his last outing. Rosas is being touted as a future star in the sport, so he needs to keep winning if he doesn’t want to lose UFC’s public relations backing.

In Middleweight action, Brunno Ferreira is eyeing his third win under the UFC banner as he faces off against Dustin Stoltzfus, who has had a sub-par run so far with the promotion. Indeed, Stoltzfus kicked off his UFC run with three straight defeats, but has managed to go 2-1 since then.

Julian Marquez started his UFC career with a nice 3-1 run that caught the attention of one Miley Cyrus. But those 15 minutes of fame went out the window rather quickly as he has lost two straight fights, both via strikes. He will look to get back into the win column when he battles Zach Reese, who suffered the first loss of his pro MMA career at the hands of Cody Brundage, who knocked him out with a vicious slam and punch last December (see it here).

Kicking off the main card will be a Welterweight scrap between Miguel Baeza and Punahele Soriano. Baeza came into the UFC with an undefeated record of 7-0, and then won his first three fights inside the Octagon. Since then, however, things have gone downhill, and fast, losing three straight. As for Soriano, he hasn’t fared all that well either, as he has gone just 1-4 in his last five fights. Both men need a win if they want to hold on to their UFC roster spot.

Enjoy the fights!

Full UFC Louisville Fight Card:

UFC Louisville Main Event On ESPN/ESPN+:

185 lbs.: Jared Cannonier vs. Nassourdine Imavov

UFC Louisville Main Card on ESPN/ESPN+ (8 p.m. ET):

205 lbs.: Dominick Reyes vs. Dustin Jacoby
135 lbs.: Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios
185 lbs.: Brunno Ferreira vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
185 lbs.: Julian Marquez vs. Zach Reese
170 lbs.: Miguel Baeza vs. Punahele Soriano

UFC Louisville Prelims Card on ESPN/ESPN+ (5 p.m. ET):

155 lbs.: Thiago Moises vs. Ludovít Klein
170 lbs.: Charles Radtke vs. Carlos Prates
125 lbs.: Andrea Lee vs. Montana De La Rosa
135 lbs.: Brad Katona vs. Jesse Butler
135 lbs.: John Castaneda vs. Daniel Marcos
115 lbs.: Eduarda Moura vs. Denise Gomes
135 lbs.: Cody Stamann vs. Taylor Lapilus
115 lbs.: Rayanne dos Santos vs. Puja Tomar

*Fight card, bout order and number of fights remain subject to change.*

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MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Louisville fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 5 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN/ESPN+ main card start time at 8 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Louisville news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archives here and here. For the updated and finalized “Cannonier vs. Imavov” fight card and ESPN/ESPN+ line up click here.