The Ultimate Fighting Championship is hoping the third date of June 8 sticks for Raul Rosas Jr. and Ricky Turcios.
A UFC Fight Night card scheduled to go down at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on June 8 will feature a pair of newly booked clashes in the bantamweight and welterweight divisions. 19-year-old Rosas Jr. (8-1) will take on Turcios (12-3) in a bantamweight attraction that has fallen apart two times in the past, while Punahele Soriano (9-4) will lock horns with Miguel Baeza (10-3) in a 170-pound clash. News of both bouts was first reported by MMA Fighting in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Rosas Jr. and Turcios were initially slated to face off at UFC Mexico City, however, Rosas Jr. was forced to withdraw at the last minute when succumbing to illness. While the two were rescheduled to fight the following week, the matchup failed to come to fruition.
“El Nino Problema” will enter the Octagon on the heels of an emphatic 54-second technical knockout victory over Terrence Mitchell in September 2023. The victory marked the Californian's return to winning ways after suffering his first professional to Christian Rodriguez at UFC 287.
Turcios is coming off a split decision victory over Kevin Natividad in November 2022 and he has not competed since. Prior to his win over Natividad, Turcios sustained his first UFC loss against Aiemann Zahabi in the same year.
In other action, Soriano will make his welterweight debut against Baeza after going 1-4 in his last five at middleweight. The 31-year-old most recently tapped out to a rear-naked choke from Dustin Stoltzfus in December, and is attempting to change his fortunes with a shift in weight class.
Standing across from him will be Florida’s Baeza, who is currently on a three-fight losing streak, most recently succumbing to strikes from Andre Fialho in April 2022. The 31-year-old will look to get back to the win column after over two years off when he welcomes Soriano to the welterweight division.
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