The UFC is headed back to New Jersey.
UFC on ESPN 5 is set Aug. 3 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., the promotion announced Thursday. Tickets go on sale to the public on June 28.
No fights have been officially announced for the card. However, this past week, MMA Junkie learned a flyweight bout between Jordan Espinosa (12-5 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Matt Schnell (12-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) is set for the event.
Once MMA legislation passed in New York in 2016, it was presumed by many that Newark’s days of hosting UFC events likely were a thing of the past since Madison Square Garden is just across the river and state line in Manhattan.
But that won’t be the case.
The state of New Jersey most recently hosted a UFC event in April 2018 in Atlantic City. The main event featured a clash between surging lightweights Kevin Lee and Edson Barboza, which saw the former earn the judges’ decision.
UFC on ESPN 4 will mark the sixth time the promotion has hosted an event in Newark – and the first since January 2016. That main event featured Anthony Johnson in a first-round TKO win over current dual Bellator champion Ryan Bader.
Newark has hosted a handful of notable bouts since the UFC’s first show there in 2010, including Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy, Jon Jones vs. Mauricio Rua, Jones vs. Chael Sonnen and Urijah Faber vs. Renan Barao.
For more on UFC on ESPN 5, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
