After a rare weekend off, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns for its summer slate of events as the promotion travels to Ball Arena in Denver, Colo. In the main event, former two-time women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas takes on surging Mexican Flyweight contender Tracy Cortez.
UFC Denver boasts a few fun fights and the “Mile High” atmosphere should be incredible, because it is in front of a live crowd. So, before it all goes down later this evening (Sat., July 13, 2024) on ESPN/ESPN+, let’s checkout some random storylines, tidbits, and statistics ahead of showtime.
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UFC returns to Denver for the first time since 2018 (its 25th anniversary show). In the main event, “Korean Zombie” fought Yair Rodriguez and ended up receiving one of the best knockouts of all-time. Meanwhile, Donald Cerrone tapped out Mike Perry in the co-main event.
This weekend will be the seventh time UFC has held an event in Denver — sixth most of any city in promotion history. The only places that have held more events are Las Vegas, Nevada, Anaheim, Calif., Atlantic City, N.J., Newark, N.J., and Houston, Texas.
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Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
UFC Denver was initially supposed to be headlined by Namajunas versus Maycee Barber; however, Barber pulled out of the fight two weeks ago because of health problems. With UFC scrambling to keep “Thug Rose” on the card, it pulled Cortez from her fight with Miranda Maverick next week.
To be honest, there aren’t a lot of stakes in this main event. While any win by Namajunas gets her closer to another UFC title shot, a victory over the No. 11-ranked Flyweight probably keeps her in the same spot.
For Cortez, a win over Namajunas puts her into the Top 5 Flyweight rankings and that much closer to a No. 1 contender fight.
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Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
After five fights in the organization, Cortez will fight in her first UFC main event. She has only competed on a UFC main card once.
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Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
With a knockout this weekend, Drew Dober will break his tie with Dustin Poirier and become the fighter with the most knockouts in lightweight history.
He currently has nine. He is also tied with Poirier, Donald Cerrone and Tony Ferguson for the fourth most finishes in UFC Lightweight division history (10).
He fights Jean Silva.
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Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Speaking of Silva, he knocked out Charles Jourdain at UFC 303 two weeks ago and will now take on former top 15-ranked Dober up a weight class.
Silva is perfect (2-0) in UFC with two knockouts since earning a contract on Contender Series.
“Lord” missed weight at UFC 303.
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Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Gabriel Bonfim returns for the first time since suffering his first professional loss against Nicolas Dalby at UFC Sao Paulo back in Nov. 2023. While many people called his technical knockout loss a “fraud check,” I think of it more as a learning lesson. Dalby is a very tough opponent, and Bonfim looked very good in the first round.
Bonfim still has a lot of potential and will look to bounce back against Ange Loosa in a big way. The Brazilian holds a 100 percent finish rate with 12 submission wins.
A middleweight fight between Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Cody Brundage is kicking off the main card. This fight should be chaos for as long as it lasts. Alhassan has a 100 percent finish rate with 12 knockouts, while Brundage only got to the scorecards once (five knockouts). Both fighters rarely get out of the first round unscathed, so it should be violent.
Brundage is coming off a loss to Bo Nickal.
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Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Only one fighter is making their UFC debut at UFC Denver ... and it’s a big one.
Fatima Kline (6-0) takes on Jasmine Jasudavicius. Kline has been the best female regional prospect for a few years. She is the main training partner of flyweight contender Erin Blanchfield and a monster in the grappling department.
Kline is a double Cage Fury Fighting Championships (CFFC) champion (Flyweight and Strawweight).
She is stepping in on a week’s notice, just like a few other fights on the card, speaking of that ...
Four fights — excluding UFC Denver’s main event — came together last week.
The first two were Dober vs. Silva and Kline vs. Jasuavicius. The other two fights take place on the “Prelims.”
Top Flyweight prospect Josh Van takes on Charles Johnson, while Montel Jackson fights Da’Mon Blackshear in a Bantamweight bout.
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One last fight came together DURING fight week. On Wednesday, UFC announced that Evan Elder will fight Darrius Flowers in a Welterweight bout.
It’s a very random fight, but it should be a scrap.
Mariya Agapova returns to action after a 21-month layoff, during which she has dealt with several injuries, as well as being broke.
Agapova had a ton of hype when she entered UFC, but has struggled the past few years and sees herself on a two-fight losing streak. She could also be fighting for her job later this evening.
Four fighters get the hometown treatment this weekend, whether they live or train in Denver: Namajunas, Dober, Brundage and Josh Fremd.
There are no Heavyweight nor Light Heavyweight athletes competing at UFC Denver; in fact, there’s only two Middleweight bouts on ESPN-streamed the card. You know, probably because of the high elevation.
The fighters with the most career fights competing at UFC Denver are Dober and Julian Erosa (40).
The fighter with the least amount of career fights competing at UFC Denver is Kline (6).
The fighter with the most amount of career knockouts competing at UFC Denver is Santiago Ponzinibbio (16).
The fighter with the most amount of career submissions competing at UFC Denver is Erosa (13).
Twelve fighters are coming off wins, while 11 are coming off losses. One is coming off a dreaded “No Contest” (Loosa).
Here are the divisions that will be on display this Saturday:
According to Draftkings, UFC Denver’s “biggest” underdog is Agapova at +300.
For the latest UFC Denver news and notes click here.
