The flyweights are still alive as Matt Schnell faces Jordan Espinosa at UFC Sochi in August.
After Henry Cejudo’s win over Marlon Moraes last weekend at UFC 238, President Dana White said that the flyweights were going to stay in the promotion. One week later, a flyweight bout between Matt Schnell and Jordan Espinosa has been added to UFC Sochi. MMAJunkie’s Nolan King was the first to report the news of the flyweight booking.
Matt Schnell (13-4) is dropping back down to 125-pounds after a bantamweight victory against Louis Smolka in March. As a flyweight, Schnell has gone 2-1, with back-to-back flyweight victories over Marco Antonio Beltran and Naoki Inoue – who was undefeated heading into the contest. Schnell caught the promotion’s eye by appearing on The Ultimate Fighter 24, which was the flyweight season. Schnell lost to eventual season winner Tim Elliott on the show, but managed to gain a spot on the UFC roster.
Jordan Espinosa (14-5-0, 1 NC) has won five-straight bouts. The 29-year old earned his contract after scoring two wins on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. After his second showing, a third-round TKO over Riley Dutro, Espinosa was awarded with a UFC contract. In his promotional debut in March, Espinosa edged veteran Eric Shelton to take home a decision victory. Espinosa is 9-1-0, 1 NC in his last eleven contests.
So far for UFC Sochi, a location has not been officially announced but the date will be August 3 and is expected to take place in Sochi, Russia, marking the third trip to the country for the promotion. The current bouts are as follows:
- Claudio Silva vs. Ramazan Emeev – welterweight
- Joaquim Silva vs. Nasrat Haqparast – lightweight
- Matt Schnell vs. Jordan Espinosa – flyweight
Update: this card was later scheduled for Newark, NJ
