Former middleweight title challengers Marvin Vettori and Jared Cannonier will meet in the main event of a Fight Night at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on the morning of Sunday 18 June 2023.
Vettori (19-6-1) has two wins and two losses from his last four trips to the Octagon: his defeats came at the hands of current division champion Israel Adesanya and former title holder Robert Whittaker, while his wins were against Paulo Costa and – most recently – Roman Dolidze in March.
“When the occasion [for a big fight] is there, I will rise for it. I will keep winning against everybody that they’ll put in front of me. I’ll take it fight by fight,” said Vettori.
“I just keep working and refining a lot of areas of my game, just keep doing me. I just think that I’m going to establish myself as one of the best at the moment in the middleweight division. I’m going to show everyone that I’m not going anywhere and that I’m ready to take on another title run.”
Cannonier (16-6) has also lost to Adesanya and Whittaker within his last five fights, though he is fresh off a victory over Sean Strickland in December of last year.
The 39-year-old ‘Killa Gorilla’ is also on the hunt for the belt and believes he can still continue to evolve in MMA despite his advanced years.
“I felt more motivated (and) inspired to get in there and start getting better. It showed in my performances in training. I felt sharper. My technique felt cleaner. Just continually building on all the things I've been building on throughout my whole career,” said Cannonier.
The rest of the main card features Arman Tsarukyan v Joaquim Silva in the lightweight division; a middleweight match pitting Armen Petrosyan against Christian Duncan; Pat Sabatini takes on Lucas Almeida in a featherweight fight; Manuel Torres v Nikolas Motta in a lightweight showdown; and a bantamweight opener between Raoni Barcelos and Miles Johns.
UFC Fight Night: Vettori v Cannonier – Main card
- Main event: Middleweight: Marvin Vettori v Jared Cannonier
- Lightweight: Arman Tsarukyan v Joaquim Silva
- Middleweight: Armen Petrosyan v Christian Duncan
- Featherweight: Pat Sabatini v Lucas Almeida
- Lightweight: Manuel Torres v Nikolas Motta
- Bantamweight: Raoni Barcelos v Miles Johns