Getting underway at UFC Apex in Las Vegas with a men’s bantamweight fight between Ali Al-Qaisi, making his UFC debut, and Irwin Rivera, looking for his first win inside the Octagon.
The UFC announced today that a bantamweight fight between Sean O'Malley and Marlon Vera will serve as the co-main event at UFC 252 on Aug. 15 in Las Vegas. Further proof what the company thinks of O'Malley's potential star power. Also of note on the card, Jim Miller returns to fight Vic Pichel in what will be his 36th UFC appearance, a new company record. Herbert Burns, brother of UFC welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns, will also compete on the card against Daniel Pineda.
James Kimball, who has been the operations head of the UFC Performance Institute (in Las Vegas and Shanghai) since the conception of the idea, is leaving the UFC for WWE, sources told ESPN. Kimball is taking a senior business operations role in WWE and will be working out of the corporate office in Stamford, Connecticut. As MMA Junkie reported Wednesday, Dr. Duncan French, who had been the performance head of the UFC PI, will take over as operations head.