The UFC is returning to the Mile High City.
UFC boss Dana White announced the return of mixed martial arts’ big show to Denver for the first time since 2018. UFC Fight Night 245 will be Saturday, July 13, at Ball Arena.
The main card will feature a pair of Colorado fighters in Maycee Barber against Rose Namajunas.
Barber, a Greeley native, is on a six-fight win streak heading into the bout and is ranked No. 4 in the flyweight division. Namajunas, a two-time strawweight champion and Westminster resident, is ranked No. 6. She snapped a two-bout losing streak with a win over Amanda Ribas in March. The fight has big implications for the winner to eventually get a crack at the belt.
The card also features a trio of welterweight bouts in Mike Malott versus Gilbert Urbina, Santiago Ponzinibbio versus Muslim Salikhov and Gabriel Bonfim versus Ange Loosa. Plus, Luana Santos versus Mariya Agapova in women’s flyweight, Abdul Razak Alhassan versus Cody Brundage in middleweight and Julian Erosa versus Christian Rodriguez in featherweight.
Denver fighter Drew Dober will also be on the card against Mike Davis in the lightweight division.
Tickets go on sale this week for UFC Fight Club members on Wednesday at 10 a.m., via a social presale on Thursday at 10 a.m. and to the general public on Friday 10 a.m.
The last time UFC was in Denver, Barber made her UFC debut with a TKO of Hannah Cifers at the Pepsi Center. Denver native Donald Cerrone also got a win on the main card, and the main event was Yair Rodriguez’s featherweight win over Chan Sung Jung.
Going back to the UFC’s roots, Denver is also where the organization had its first event, UFC 1 on November 12, 1993, at McNichols Sports Arena. That night featured an eight-man tournament won by Brazilian jiu-jitsu artist Royce Gracie.
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Kyle Newman
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