UFC president Dana White officially announced the company’s next two events to ESPN on Friday. Both will take place at the UFC’s Apex facility in Las Vegas.
A heavyweight bout between Curtis Blaydes and Alexander Volkov will headline UFC Fight Night on June 20, and a highly anticipated lightweight fight between Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker will serve as the main event for a UFC Fight Night on June 27.
Both of these fights were originally targeted for different events before the coronavirus pandemic impacted the UFC’s schedule. Blaydes and Volkov were always supposed to fight on June 20, but the event was originally slated for Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Poirier and Hooker were initially in talks to fight in May, but it was never official.
Blaydes (13-2) is knocking on the door of a UFC heavyweight title shot, with wins in eight of his past nine contests. Volkov (31-7), of Russia, is coming off a decision win against Greg Hardy in late 2019.
In addition to the heavyweight main event, the June 20 card will feature a notable featherweight contest between Josh Emmett (15-2) and Shane Burgos (13-1).
Poirier (25-6) has not fought since he came up short in a 155-pound title bid against Khabib Nurmagomedov in September. Hooker (20-8) fights out of New Zealand and has won seven of his past eight.
“This is an important fight for both guys,” White said. “Obviously, Poirier wants to get a shot at that title, and Hooker, if he comes in and beats Poirier, he’s finally arrived. He’s one of the top five guys in the world and on his way to a possible title fight.”
Ian Heinisch will be fighting on short rest against Brendan Allen in a middleweight bout on the June 27 card. Heinisch fought in Saturday’s UFC 250, beating Gerald Meerschaert with a KO/TKO in the first round.
“I love these kids that put on performances and then want to say active,” White said, referring to Heinisch. “You want to be remembered by people. You want to do a lot of great things with a lot of people watching. Conor McGregor did the same thing. He stayed active. Ronda Rousey stayed active. I love kids that turn around quick.”
The event on June 27 will also see a welterweight co-main event between Mike Perry (13-6) and Mickey Gall (6-2).
The full lineups as of Friday:
UFC Fight Night, June 20
UFC Fight Night, June 27