Macy Chiasson vs. Nicco Montano and Devin Clark vs. Gadzhimurad Antigulov are the latest additions to February’s UFC Rio Rancho.
A pair of bouts have been officially announced for the UFC Rio Rancho card. On Tuesday, UFC officials announced that Ultimate Fighter 28 winner Macy Chiasson would face ex-flyweight champion Nicco Montano at the New Mexico event this February. Additionally, light heavyweights Devin Clark and Gadzhimurad Antigulov will appear.
Those fights join previously reported bouts between Ray Borg and Rogerio Bontorin, plus Mara Romero Borella and Montana De La Rosa. The show will be headlined by Jan Blacowicz taking on Corey Anderson.
After winning TUF 28 at featherweight, Chiasson (5-1) moved to bantamweight, and immediately picked up a pair of wins against Gina Mazany and Sarah Moras. She’ll enter UFC Rio Rancho, however, off the first loss of her pro career. That came against Lina Lansberg at UFC Copenhagen in September.
Her opponent, Nicco Montano (4-3) will also be looking to get back in the win column. Montano’s UFC journey also began on The Ultimate Fighter, in her case TUF 26. The season that introduced the women’s flyweight division, Montano went the distance, capturing the belt against Roxanne Modafferi in the show’s finale (Modafferi, it’s worth noting, stepped in short notice in place of Sijara Eubanks).
After winning the title, however, Montano did not compete at flyweight again. A lengthy hiatus ensued, and her return to the cage at UFC 228 in September 2018 was called off after she was rushed to hospital due to illness, believed to be associated with her weight cut.
Montano was then stripped of the belt, and moved up to bantamweight. She faced Julianna Peña at 135lbs this past July, losing the fight by unanimous decision.
Coincidentally, her original TUF 26 Finale opponent, Eubanks, was also forced to move up to bantamweight due to ongoing weight cut struggles.
Devin Clark (10-4), meanwhile, will enter UFC Rio Rancho off a loss to Ryan Spann. He’ll look to bounce back against Antigulov (20–6), who has lost two straight.
UFC Rio Rancho takes place February 15, 2020 at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.
