UFC Louisville Lineup Gains Cannonier-Imavov Headliner, Multiple Other Matchups

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is not straying away from middleweight main events, even outside of Las Vegas.

The promotion announced via press release in April the nearly completed lineup of UFC Louisville, also known as UFC on ESPN 57. The fight card held at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky, had numerous previously announced matchups confirmed while bringing light to a few others. Of note, the release stated that Dominick Reyes (12-4) and Dustin Jacoby (19-8-1) would be competing in the light heavyweight co-main attraction, while Andrea Lee (13-9) and Montana De La Rosa (12-9) will throw down in the early prelims at flyweight.

Shortly after the press release dropped, MMA Mania broke the news that the main event would come at 185 pounds between Jared Cannonier (17-6) and Nassourdine Imavov (13-4, 1 NC). This battle on June 8 has now been confirmed by other outlets on Thursday.

This main attraction appearance for Cannonier will be his first in nearly a year, when he pulled off a decision win over Marvin Vettori in Las Vegas. The former heavyweight has won two straight, which also includes a split call over future champ Sean Strickland. Since joining the major stage in 2015, Cannonier has never strung together more than three wins in a row.

France’s Imavov put a rough 2023 behind him by beating Roman Dolidze over five rounds in February. Before then, he and Chris Curtis banged heads to result in a no contest. Prior to that no contest, the MMA Factory product fell short to Strickland at the hands of the judges. Both men celebrate finish rates right around 70%.

The co-main of Reyes vs. Jacoby comes between two 205ers who have lost seven of their combined last eight encounters. Former title challenger has lost four straight since a razor close decision loss to Jon Jones in 2020, while Jacoby’s lone win in his last four came over Kennedy Nzechukwu in August 2023. The same can be said about struggling flyweights Lee and De La Rosa, with Lee dropping four in a row compared to De La Rosa holding a single win in four contests. They will run a fight back from 2019 that saw Lee prevail by unanimous decision.