Nathan Maness is one of the newest members of the UFC roster, but he’s already paired up with a former title challenger.
The promotion has booked Maness (11-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) to fight Ray Borg at the promotion’s return to American soil on Aug. 1. The event is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Two people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the booking Friday, but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Maness, 29, is a former TKO MMA champion. The Kentucky-based fighter has picked up six finishes (four knockouts and two submissions) in 12 professional bouts. His lone career loss was suffered to former UFC bantamweight Taylor Lapilus in May 2019.
Borg (13-5 MMA, 0-0 UFC) returns to action after a last-minute withdrawal in mid-June. At UFC on ESPN 10, Borg was supposed to fight Merab Dvalishvili. However, two days before the bout, Borg left Las Vegas and returned home for personal reasons. Borg is 2-2 in his most recent four outings and is coming off a loss to Ricky Simon in May.
With the addition, the current Aug. 1 lineup includes:
- Holly Holm vs. Irene Aldana
- Derek Brunson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
- Markus Perez vs. Eric Spicely
- Yana Kunitskaya vs. Ketlen Vieira
- Trevin Giles vs. Jun Yong Park
- Ed Herman vs. Da Un Jung
- Randy Brown vs. Vicente Luque
- Viviane Araujo vs. Jennifer Maia
- Jonathan Martinez vs. Frankie Saenz
- Chris Gutierrez vs. Luke Sanders
- Ray Borg vs. Nathan Maness
