Conor McGregor-Dustin Poirier UFC 264 undercard takes shape
The card for the UFC’s return to full-capacity events in Las Vegas is starting to fill out.
Several undercard bouts were confirmed to the Review-Journal by the organization as part of the UFC 264 event, which will be headlined by the third bout between lightweight stars Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier on July 10 at T-Mobile Arena.
Las Vegan Kevin Lee returns to action for the first time since March 2020 when he takes on Sean Brady in a welterweight bout.
Lee, who challenged for the interim lightweight title in 2017, has gone back and forth between 155 and 170 pounds. He missed the lightweight limit in his last bout against now-champion Charles Oliveira and will now move back up to welterweight.
Jessica Eye, another Las Vegan who has unsuccessfully challenged for a title, will take on Jennifer Maia in a women’s flyweight bout.
Eye is 1-2 since losing in her bid to unseat Valentina Shevchenko, with all three fights going the distance. The 34-year-old has missed weight twice in that span.
Also on the card, welterweight Niko Price will take on Michel Pereira.
Price is coming off a majority draw against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in a bout that was overturned to a no-contest due to Price testing positive for marijuana metabolites. He received a six-month suspension.
Pereira is looking to build off back-to-back wins to close 2020.
Flyweight Jerome Rivera, whose three consecutive losses include two knockouts, will be the opponent for Zhalgas Zhumagulov.
Zhumagulov is 0-2 since joining the UFC after winning four straight to earn a contract.
Middleweight Trevin Giles will fight Dricus du Plessis, who is 11-1 in his last 12 fights and made an impressive UFC debut with a first-round knockout of Markus Perez in October.
Giles has won three straight since suffering the only two losses of his career in 2019.
A welterweight contender bout between Gilbert Burns and Stephen Thompson has already been announced for the event.
The last UFC event at T-Mobile Arena was UFC 248 on March 7, 2020.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.