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UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Imavov Preview
By Matt ten-Hoeve
June 5, 2024
Kentucky gets a UFC Fight Night on Saturday, June 8th and it will feature some really fun fighters and hard-hitting matchups. Let’s take a look at the card…
Main Card (8 PM ESPN/ESPN+)
Jared Cannonier vs. Nassourdine Imavov
Dominick Reyes vs. Dustin Jacoby
Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios
Brunno Ferreira vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
Julian Marquez vs. Zachary Reese
Miguel Baeza vs. Punahele Soriano
Preliminary Card (5 PM ESPN+)
Thiago Moises vs. Ludovit Klein
Charlie Radtke vs. Carlos Prates
Brad Katona vs. Jesse Butler
Andrea Lee vs. Montana De La Rosa
John Castaneda vs. Daniel Marcos
Eduarda Moura vs. Denise Gomes
Cody Stamann vs. Taylor Lapilus
Rayanne dos Santos vs. Puja Tomar
The Prelims
These Prelims are going to be a lot of fun. There are a bunch of fighters who tend to put on a show and most of them are looking to get on the radar of fans and other fighters in the division. Here’s what I am looking forward to…
Even though Rayanne dos Santos lost her UFC debut last year, she is a former Invicta champion who has an incredible ground game. She will be looking to get a big win to prove that she can recreate her Invicta success.
Cody Stamann and Taylor Lapilus are both fun fighters who will be looking to get back to their winning ways on Saturday. This has all the ingredients for a really fun early fight.
Brad Katona seems to be reinvigorated after winning The Ultimate Fighter. He will be going up against a very tough Jesse Butler, who will be a big test for Brad in his second stint in the promotion.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a boring fight from either Thiago Moises or Ludovit Klein. This is going to be a hell of a way to finish off the Prelims. I am very much looking forward to this fight!
Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios
The Main Card will be kicking off with some fun prospect fights before heading into the top of the card with Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios. This fight was supposed to happen a few months ago before an unexpected pullout by Rosas Jr. Turcios was really upset about the fight getting pulled at the last second and claimed that he wouldn’t be looking to make the fight again. But here we are. Rosas has a lot to prove - both because of the last time this fight was made and because he’s young and the UFC machine wants to get behind him. Turcios will just be looking to get his anger out. This could be good!
Dominick Reyes vs. Dustin Jacoby
Win or lose, Dustin Jacoby is a lot of fun to watch. He is always looking for a finish, which is entertaining, but also exposes his openings for finishes against him, as well. That may benefit Dominick Reyes who desperately needs a win. Reyes last won in 2019 and has gone 0-4 since with two losses in title fights. If Reyes wants to stay ranked and make another run, it really has to start with an impressive win here.
Jared Cannonier vs. Nassourdine Imavov
After a shaky Light Heavyweight start (one loss and one no contest), Nassourdine Imavov got a nice, hard-fought win his last time out against Roman Dolidze. The fight showed that Imavov can definitely stand and battle. However, he may want to consider doing something else against Jared Cannonier. The last time Jared Cannonier was in the Octagon, he set the record for most significant strikes landed in a bout in UFC Middleweight history with 241 significant strikes while completely teeing off on Marvin Vettori’s face. Jared did tear his MCL late last year, so this will be a true test to see if he’s ready and healed. This should be a lot of fun!
My Picks
Jared Cannonier
Dustin Jacoby
Raul Rosas Jr.
Brunno Ferreira
Zachary Reese
Miguel Baeza
Ludovit Klein
Charlie Radtke
Brad Katona
Andrea Lee
John Castaneda
Eduarda Moura
Taylor Lapilus
Rayanne dos Santos
Overall, this looks to be a fun card. It’s not star-studded, but there are fighters who tend to put on a show and a lot of these matchups feature fighters who are looking to prove that they deserve to get featured more. I’m looking forward to it!
Are you looking forward to this Kentucky card? Which fights are you excited to see? Let me know at matt.tenhoeve@gmail.com. I will be back after the weekend to talk about the results and preview next week’s PFL and UFC cards. See you then!
