The Ultimate Fighting Championship is bestowing a newly announced event with a pair of light heavyweight collisions and one top contender match at 115 pounds.
On Thursday, MMA Junkie first announced that the UFC would be staging a Fight Night card on Aug. 5. The destination is currently unknown, but it is but rumored to be taking place at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. On that lineup, two 205-pound affairs have been booked plus one outside that weight class. The first, likely on the main card, comes between Dustin Jacoby (18-7-1) and Kennedy Nzechukwu (12-3). The second, also courtesy of MMA Junkie, which has no distinction as to its placement, features Tanner Boser (20-10-1) against the returning Aleksa Camur (6-2). Jacoby later announced his bout on social media, while Iridium Sports Management confirmed Camur vs. Boser.
Additionally, a pivotal 115-pound affair is on the books for this fight card, as Virna Jandiroba (19-3) is expected to take on Tatiana Suarez (9-0). This will be Suarez' return down to her former division of strawweight after a one-off appearance at flyweight. Jandiroba has confirmed this matchup on her Instagram Stories on Thursday night.
Ranked among the top ladies in her division, Jandiroba has strung together three wins opposite a single defeat dating back to 2021. The Brazilian earned her first career knockout when Kanako Murata succumbed to an arm injury at the end of the second round of their bout. Jandiroba followed this by a three-round defeat to Amanda Ribas, and she has rebounded with two victories since then. A clear-cut decision triumph over Angela Hill in 2022 was followed by a 15-minute outworking of Marina Rodriguez in May.
Still undefeated as a pro, the 32-year-old Suarez comes into this major strawweight tilt having submitted Montana De La Rosa in February up a weight class. That match served as her return to the sport after over three and a half years away for injury and surgeries. Before then, Suarez strung together five straight triumphs in the Octagon from 2016 to 2019, including three submissions, beating the likes of Carla Esparza and Alexa Grasso on her way up. The victor of Season 23 of "The Ultimate Fighter" will be returning to her standard weight category for this high-stakes clash.
Jacoby, ranked no. 15 with the promotion but unranked on the Sherdog Official Rankings, has lost his last two. “The Hanyak” first dropped a split decision to Khalil Rountree in October 2022, and his bounceback performance proved unsuccessful when Azamat Murzakanov outworked him for the better part of three rounds. Those losses ended an unbeaten streak dating from his 2020 return to the promotion through the middle of 2022, which saw the ex-kickboxer string together six wins and a draw.
While Jacoby has struggled, Nzechukwu has excelled of late, rattling off three stoppages in a row in the last year. After the fighter known as “African Savage” came up short against Nicolae Negumereanu in 2022, he went on a tear, smashing Karl Roberson with Elbows before leveling Ion Cutelaba with a flying knee and follow-up punches. A brutal guillotine choke where he put Devin Clark all the way to sleep in May places the Fortis MMA fighter on his current run. As a pro, the Texan by way of Nigeria has finished his opponent in exactly 75% of his victories.
Ex-heavyweight Boser’s trip down to 205 pounds did not go his way in April, when Cutelaba punched him out in about two minutes. The Canadian has dropped four of his last five, with a knockout of Ovince St. Preux bookended by defeats to Andrei Arlovski, Ilir Latifi, Rodrigo Nascimento and the aforementioned Cutelaba. Before the tough run he finds himself on now, Boser had claimed wins in three of his first four in the Octagon, with the lone loss back then to future champ Ciryl Gane.
Strong Style Fight Team’s Camur will be returning to the promotion for the first time in over two years, as he last competed at UFC on ESPN 25 in June 2021. Camur came out of the gate as a pro with six straight wins, including five knockouts, until running into William Knight in late 2020. Two decision losses to Knight and Negumereanu put Camur on his current skid.
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