With news of Charles Jourdain pulling out breaking just yesterday, an opponent has been found for Ricky Simon at UFC Atlanta.
Enter Cameron Smotherman. “The Baby Faced Killer” Smotherman (12-5) will look to rebound from a recent loss when he faces the far more experienced Simon (21-6) in Atlanta on less than a week’s notice.
Promotion officials confirmed the news following an initial report by Eurosport.
Smotherman was last seen losing a decision to Canada’s Serhiy Sidey in May. He’s now clearly looking to get back on the horse in the biggest way possible. Fighting out of Houston, Smotherman came up short on the Contender Series in 2023 but worked his way up the regional circuit to the UFC regardless, winning his promotional debut against the since-departed (to the PFL) Jake Hadley.
Simon has fought some of the best bantamweights the UFC has to offer, including Merab Dvalishvili, Urijah Faber, Raphael Assuncao, and Song Yadong, among others.
UFC Atlanta takes place Saturday, June 14, 2025 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia with welterweights Kamaru Usman and Joaquin Buckley headlining. The card currently breaks down as follows:
- Kamaru Usman vs. Joaquin Buckley
- Rose Namajunas vs. Miranda Maverick
- Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Andre Petroski
- Cody Garbrandt vs. Raoni Barcelos
- Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Cody Brundage
- Alonzo Menifield vs. Oumar Sy
- Paul Craig vs. Rodolfo Bellato
- Michael Chiesa vs. Court McGee
- Malcolm Wellmaker vs. Kris Moutinho
- Cody Durden vs. Jose Ochoa
- Philip Rowe vs. Ange Loosa
- Jamey-Lyn Horth vs. Vanessa Demopoulos
- Ricky Simon vs. Cameron Smotherman
