Aotearoa UFC fans have much more to look forward to in the middle of the year, with two more City Kickboxing fighters stepping into the octagon.
No. 14-ranked lightweight Brad Riddell (10 wins, two losses) will look to get back into the win column when he faces "The Tarantula" Jalin Turner (12 wins, five losses) at UFC 276. Riddell is coming off a third-round KO loss to Rafael Fiziev in December last year. Turner is riding a four-fight win streak, and a win over "Quake" could see him jump into the top 15 lightweights.
Their fight will culminate at UFC 276 in Las Vegas, headed by fellow City Kickboxing teammates middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski, who defend their titles in the card's main events.
If that's not enough, the "Black Jag" will be fighting one weekend earlier on a UFC Fight Night. Light heavyweight prospect Carlos Ulberg (Tainui, Te Atiawa, Hāmoa) finds his third UFC fight in the form of Cameroonian opponent Tafon Nchukwi (six wins, two losses).
Ulberg has a split record so far, his first fight being a loss to Kennedy Nzechukwu in March 2021, and his only win (by unanimous decision) over Fabio Cherhant in Feb this year. Tafon Nuchukwi's last fight was a KO/TKO loss to Azamat Murzakanov.
This latest update means six City Kickboxing fighters fighting inside the UFC between June and July. First up is Mike "Blood Diamond" Mathetha (three wins, one loss) in his second welterweight bout in the UFC, as part of UFC 275's Early Prelims in Singapore, fighting Orion Cosce (seven wins, one loss).
Ulberg will be next to fight on June 26 [NZ time], followed by UFC 276 on July 3 [NZ time] with Adesanya, Volkanovski and Riddell.
July 31 will see Te Ao Toa presenter and flyweight contender Kaiwhare Kara-France (Ngāti Kahungunu) do battle for the second time against Mexican opponent Brandon Moreno - and it will be for interim flyweight gold, as reports last week were officially confirmed.