Top-10 ranked featherweight contender Nik Lentz (24-6-2, 1 NC) is ready to hit the comeback trail. Fresh of his loss to Chad Mendes, Lentz is now expected to battle Manny Gamburyan (13-8) on May 10 at UFC Fight Night 40, promotion officials announced Thursday.
The announcement highlighted a trio of new bout agreements, which also included a featherweight showdown between Sean Soriano (8-1) and Estevan Payan (14-5, 1 NC) for UFC on FOX 11, and a bantamweight collision between George Roop (14-10-1) and Dustin Kimura (11-1) for The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale.
Currently the UFC’s No. 8 ranked featherweight, Lentz, 29, kicked off his fresh start at 145 pounds with three straight victories over Eiji Mitsuoka, Diego Nunes and Hacran Dias, before dropping a unanimous decision against Mendes last December.
He now looks to regain momentum against Gamburyan, 32, a former WEC title contender and runner-up on season five of The Ultimate Fighter. Gamburyan has fought to mixed results since returning to the UFC in 2011, initially dropping back-to-back contests before rebounding with a 2-1 record over his last three fights.
UFC Fight Night 40 is expected to take place May 10, 2014 at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, OH.
Meanwhile, both Soriano, 24, and Payan, 31, continue to pursue their elusive first UFC victory after falling short in their first three combined attempts. They’ll do so at UFC on FOX 11, which is scheduled for Apr 19, 2014 at the Amway Center in Orlando, FL.
Finally, promising bantamweight prospect Kimura, 24, looks to continue his winning ways against Roop, 32, at TUF Nations Finale, which is slated for April 16, 2014 at the Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City, Canada.