UFC bantamweight Brian Kelleher will not get to fight at home in Long Island this summer, but will instead compete later this month.
Kelleher (24-13) was seemingly a shoo-in for UFC Long Island in July, but he’ll instead face Mario Bautista (9-2) at the UFC’s June 25, 2022 Fight Night event in Las Vegas. Iridium Sports Agency, who represent Bautista, recently announced the news, which Kelleher subsequently confirmed.
“Well no Long Island action for me at the moment but June 25th will do,” Kelleher wrote on social media just a few days ago. “I’ll be able to sit back and have a nice bourbon with my strong island crowd July 16 though I’ll take it.”
Kelleher will be entering his third fight of 2022 in the bout, having split a pair of fights since the year kicked off. In January, “Boom” won a unanimous decision against Kevin Croom; less than two months later, he fell to Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 272.
The Nurmagomedov loss, which saw Kelleher caught in a rear-naked choke just over three minutes into the opening round, snapped a two-fight win streak the Long Islander had put together.
Bautista has won his lone contest in 2022, winning a decision over Jay Perrin back in February. The 28-year old has posted a 3-2 record inside the octagon thus far, but it’s worth noting that one of those losses came against current bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen.
The UFC’s June 25, 2022 Fight Night show is expected to take place at the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The following bouts have been reported for the event:
- Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mateusz Gamrot
- Neil Magny vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
- Jinh Yu Frey vs. Vanessa Demopoulos
- Tim Elliott vs. Amir Albazi
- Josh Parisian vs. Alan Baudot
- Rodolfo Vieira vs. Chris Curtis
- Tyson Nam vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
- Raulian Paiva vs. Sergey Morozov
- Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Nate Maness
- Carlos Ulberg vs. Tafon Nchukwi
- Brian Kelleher vs. Mario Bautista
