A pair of bantamweights will look to get back in the win column in May.
First reported by tudosobremma.com, Felipe Colares will fight Journey Newson on May 1 at a yet-to-be-announced UFC event. Newson later confirmed the booking on social media.
Brazil’s Colares (9-2) hasn’t had the best UFC run so far, as he has gone 1-2 after going undefeated on the regional scene. He lost his UFC debut in 2019 to Geraldo de Freitas but then returned five months later with a split decision win over Domingo Pilarte. Colares would fight on the second UFC event in 2020, UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. dos Santos, but lose a unanimous decision to Montel Jackson. He was supposed to return in November to fight Gustavo Lopez but tested positive for COVID-19.
Like his opponent, Newson (9-3) hasn’t had the UFC run he had hoped for. After losing his UFC debut to Ricardo Ramos in 2019, Newson would rebound with a fantastic knockout of Pilarte at UFC 247 in 2020. The win would be overturned due to a positive marijuana test. Newson would return in September at UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley and be a victim to a knockout by Randy Costa.
With the addition of Colares vs. Newson, the UFC’s May 1 fight card breaks down as follows:
- Dominick Reyes vs. Jirí Prochazka
- Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Augusto Sakai
- Damon Jackson vs. T.J. Laramie
- Kai Kamaka III vs. T.J. Brown
- Mike Jackson vs. Dean Barry
- Ji Yeon Kim vs. Poliana Botelho
- Andreas Michailidis vs. KB Bhullar
- Ion Cuțelaba vs. Devin Clark
- Sam Hughes vs. Loma Lookboonmee
- Sean Strickland vs. Krzysztof Jotko
