UFC announced that they will be returning this summer for a Fight Night in Louisville, Kentucky. The June 8th Fight Night Card will mark the “Derby City” second event in the promotion’s history. The promotion’s first and last fight card in Louisville was UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann in March 2011.
UFC Louisville’s Announced Bouts
UFC Louisville is set to take place at the KFC Yum! Center which houses the University of Louisville’s Basketball teams. Titled UFC Fight Night 242, the Louisville card has already announced 10 fights which are subject to change. The current announced bouts are listed below:
Women’s Strawweight: Eduarda Moura vs. Denis Gomes
Men’s Bantamweight: Taylor Lapilus vs. Cody Stamann
Women’s Strawweight: Puja Tomar vs. Rayanne dos Santos
Men’s Bantamweight: Brad Katona vs. Jesse Butler
Men’s Bantamweight: Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios
Lightweight: Thiago Moisés vs. Ľudovít Klein
Welterweight: Carlos Prates vs. Charles Radkte
Welterweight: Punahele Soriano vs. Miguel Baeza
Middleweight: Julian Marquez vs. Zachary Reese
Middleweight: Brunno Ferreira vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
Currently, there is no announced main event for UFC Louisville.
UFC’s Return to Louisville
The June Fight Night acts as the first time the promotion has returned to the Bluegrass State city in 13 years. Furthermore, its previous 2011 event went down in the KFC Yum! Center that featured an 11 bout fight card. This UFC Live saw Welterweight Diego Sanchez grab a decision victory over Martin Kampmann. Additionally, this card featured wins by Mark Muñoz and Chris Weidman ahead of UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones.
The previous UFC Louisville event garnered an attendance of 8,319 with a gate of $471,450. KFC Yum’s current setup estimates 22,090 available seats for basketball, a number that the UFC is capable of meeting on this sellout hot streak.
A return to Louisville signifies the slow roll out of more off-site Fight Nights for the promotion. The UFC’s on-site facility, the APEX, is closing in 100 fight night and PPV events since its introduction during the COVID-19 pandemic. In its current rights deal with ESPN, the UFC is tasked with putting on approximately 40 events per year. Excluding Contender Series and the Ultimate Fighter, the UFC put out 42 live events in 2023 and 41 in 2022. With the inclusion of the APEX, it has been a perfect solution for seamless television production and turnover for its event staff.
Future UFC Events at the APEX?
As the COVID-19 effects still impact the touring of the promotion, UFC only utilized the APEX for 17 events in 2023. Currently, in 2024, the UFC hosted 6 APEX cards with 3 scheduled through June 15th. However, UFC Louisville acts as another American Fight Night in an arena in 2024 as they begin to re-integrate the touring aspect. This will be the first non-PPV American card since UFC Atlantic City earlier this year. The announcement of UFC’s return to Louisville leaves July’s UFC Fight Night 444’s location up for debate on whether it will be an APEX or an arena event.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
