Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is assembling a bantamweight matchup between 135-pound slugger Sean O’Malley and well-traveled veteran Louis Smolka for the upcoming UFC 264 pay-per-view (PPV) event, scheduled for July 10 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
That’s according to MMA journalist Ryan Frederick.
O’Malley (13-1) blasted his way back into the win column with a third-round knockout victory over former bantamweight contender Thomas Almeida at the UFC 260 PPV in March. The 26 year-old “Sugar” has 10 finishes in 13 wins and is now 5-1 inside the Octagon.
As for Smolka, 29, he improved to 17-7 with a technical knockout finish over Jose Alberto Quinonez at UFC Vegas 16 last December. “Da Last Samurai” is a former flyweight contender who currently sits at 2-2 since rejoining the promotion back in late 2018.
UFC 264 will be headlined by the third (and hopefully final) fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. Elsewhere on the card, Gilbert Burns and Stephen Thompson collide at 170 pounds, while heavyweight hurter Greg Hardy keeps busy against Tai Tuivasa.
Expect more UFC 264 fight card announcements in the coming weeks.