Vera-Yadong, Barboza-Ige Reportedly Set For May 16 UFC Card

By Fight Sports Apr 29, 2020

Some of the UFC’s top fighters may be making their way down to Florida.

It is being reported by Combate that Edson Barboza and Dan Ige will clash at the May 16th UFC card. Additionally, MMA Fighting was the first to report that a bantamweight bout between Song Yadong and Marlon Vera is also in play for that event.

Barboza (20-8) is on a two-fight losing streak and is 1-4 in his last five fights. After beating Dan Hooker back in December 2018, the 34-year-old lost to Justin Gaethje back in March via knockout. He then lost to Paul Felder via split decision in Abu Dhabi in September. Barboza was going to originally leave the lightweight division for the featherweight division, but a planned bout with Josh Emmett on May 2 was postponed due to the coronavirus.

This is an important bout for Ige, as the featherweight is on a five-fight win streak. His last bout was a split decision win back at UFC 247 in February over Mirsad Bektic. The last loss for him came against Julio Arce at UFC 220 in January 2018.

The bantamweight bout between Vera and Yadong can shake things up in the division’s rankings. Vera (15-5-1) is riding a five-fight win streak. His last fight was in October, beating Andrew Ewell via TKO. This is the third attempt at a fight for Vera since then. He was scheduled to face Jimmie Rivera back in February, but the latter pulled out of the event due to an injury. “Chito” was then supposed to face Eddie Wineland on March 28, but the event was scrapped due to the coronavirus.

Yadong (15-4-1, 1NC) is coming off of a majority decision draw against Cody Stamann back in December. He has not lost a bout since 2016, as he won four UFC fights before the Stamann fight. Recently entering the UFC’s bantamweight top fifteen, Yadong will look to keep up his momentum.

All fights will be taking place inside the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The event will be right after UFC 249 on May 9.

Here is the updated lineup for the May 16 card: