Jesse Ronson returns in April opposite Rafa Garcia
Jesse Ronson will finally make the walk to the Octagon once again.
Ronson returned to the UFC back in July of 2020 on Fight Island where he scored a massive upset win as he submitted Nicolas Dalby in the first round. However, after the fight it was revealed the Canadian tested positive for Metandienone and was suspended for 22 months, and is eligible to return on March 22, 2022. Now, multiple sources have informed MyMMANews that Ronson will return on April 16 opposite Rafa Garcia. The main event and location of the card are still TBD.
Jesse Ronson (21-10 and one No Contest), as mentioned, is coming off the fight against Dalby up a weight class at welterweight. Prior to that, the Canadian scored a submission win over Troy Lamson at BTC 9 after fighting in PFL where he dropped a decision to Natan Schulte in the 2019 lightweight season and after the loss, moved up to 170 and lost by TKO to Nikolay Aleksakhin. Before the back-to-back losses, he won five straight fights after going 2-6.
The Canadian fought in the UFC back in 2013-2014 where he went 0-3 losing to Michel Prazeres by split decision, Francisco Trinaldo by split decision, and Kevin Lee by split decision. Despite losing three straight fights by split decision, Ronson was released from the UFC. He then signed back in 2018 to face Diego Ferreira at UFC 231 but he was not medically cleared his contract was rescinded.
Rafa Garcia (12-2) won his first UFC fight last time out as he defeated Natan Levy by decision. In his Octagon debut, he suffered a decision loss to Nasrat Haqparast before dropping another decision to Chris Gruetzemacher. Before getting into the UFC, Garcia was competing in Combate Americas where he was the lightweight division after defeating Humberto Bandenay.
With the addition of Ronson vs. Garcia, the April 16 card is as follows:
- Drakkar Klose vs. Brandon Jenkins
- Jesse Ronson vs. Rafa Garcia