Brian Kelleher vs. Montel Jackson rebooking slated for UFC 232
An unfortunate last second fight cancellation for UFC 230 earlier this month looks to become an exciting addition to an already stacked UFC 232 event at the end of 2018.
Sources have confirmed with MyMMANews.com that a bantamweight bout between Brian Kelleher and Montel Jackson is slated to be rebooked for the UFC’s end of the year event on Dec. 29. UFC 232 will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will be headlined by an interim UFC light heavyweight title fight between the returning Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson.
Kelleher had missed weight the morning before his scheduled bout with Jackson in New York and was pulled from the contest just hours before UFC 230 began due to a battle with food poisoning. “Boom” made his UFC debut in June 2017 at UFC 212, submitting, then, 42-fight veteran Iuri Alcantara in the opening round. After a submission loss to Marlon Vera at UFC on FOX 25 a little over a month later, Kelleher picked up back-to-back victories over Damian Stasiak and former UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao. The 32-year-old’s two fight winning streak was snapped at May’s UFC 224 event in a barnburner with John Lineker via knockout in the third round.
Jackson will look to get his first win with the UFC. “Quick” opened a lot of eyes during last season of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series when he he finished Rico DiSciullo via third round TKO. While he didn’t receive a contract that night at the TUF Gym, he clearly remained on the minds of UFC brass as he got his opportunity to step in the hallowed Octagon when he faced Ricky Simon, on short notice, at UFC 227. Jackson performed admirably in his Octagon debut, but lost a unanimous decision in the bout. The 26-year-old Jackson has a bright future in the bantamweight division ahead of him and looks to reach his potential next month in Las Vegas.
Here is how the UFC 232 fight card is shaping up:
- Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson – interim light heavyweight title fight
- (C) Cris Cyborg vs. Amanda Nunes – women’s featherweight title fight
- Ilir Latifi vs. Corey Anderson – light heavyweight
- Carlos Condit vs. Michael Chiesa – welterweight
- Megan Anderson vs. Cat Zingano – women’s featherweight
- Uriah Hall vs. Bevon Lewis – middleweight
- BJ Penn vs. Ryan Hall – lightweight
- Andrei Arlovski vs. Walt Harris – heavyweight
- Chad Mendes vs. Alexander Volkanovski – featherweight
- Curtis Millender vs. Siyar Bahadurzada – welterweight
- Petr Yan vs. Douglas Andrade – bantamweight
- Brian Kelleher vs. Montel Jackson – bantamweight
