A big UFC middleweight matchup is taking the marquee spot in Las Vegas on June 17.
UFC president Dana White announced Thursday on Instagram Live that the UFC Fight Night event will now be headlined by Jared Cannonier (16-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) vs. Marvin Vettori (19-6-1 MMA, 9-4-1 UFC).
The clash of former middleweight title challengers currently holding top 5 spots in the latest USA TODAY SPORTS/MMA Junkie middleweight rankings takes place at the UFC Apex, with the main card airing live on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET.
Cannonier, 39, will enter his third-straight main event on the heels of a split decision win over Sean Strickland. In the outing prior, Cannonier was defeated in a bid for the middleweight title by champ Israel Adesanya at UFC 276, stopping the momentum of back-to-back wins over Kelvin Gastelum and Derek Brunson.
Vettori, 29, has traded winning and losing decisions over his past few outings since getting a shot at the title. In his last appearance, he halted the momentum of rising contender Roman Dolidze. Prior to that, former champ Robert Whittaker beat Vettori on the scorecards. After coming up short in his shot for the title against Adesanya at UFC 263, Vettori rebounded with a win over Paulo Costa four months later.
With the addition, the UFC Fight Night event on June 17 includes:
- Jared Cannonier vs. Marvin Vettori
- Alessandro Costa vs. Jimmy Flick
- Tereza Bleda vs. Gabriella Fernandes
- Kleydson Rodrigues vs. Tatsuro Taira
- Modestas Bukauskas vs. Zac Pauga
- Nicolas Dalby vs. Muslim Salikhov
