After submitting BJ Penn in December 2018, Ryan Hall (7-1) is back, taking on ranked Featherweight Darren Elkins (24-7) at UFC Sacramento.
A former Ultimate Fighter winner, Hall is now 3-1 in the UFC but after being stalled by inactivity, he’ll look to build some momentum with a much quicker turnaround here. On the other hand, Elkins is riding a two-fight losing streak, falling short to contenders Ricardo Lamas and Alexander Volkanovski. Nonetheless, Elkins was in the midst of a lengthy winning streak prior to that and will likely present Hall’s toughest test yet.
Elsewhere, Lightweights Beneil Dariush (16-4-1) and Drakkar Klose (10-1-1) will also clash on the July 13th event. Both men have been victorious in their latest two outings and this bout will likely guide the victor far closer to an official ranking at 155lbs. Down at Bantamweight, Benito ‘Golden Boy’ Lopez (9-1) will return to action as well, taking on Martin ‘The Spartan’ Day (8-3). Lopez recently suffered his first defeat, succumbing to a Guillotine Choke opposite the undefeated Manny Bermudez. Day is looking to return to the win column too, seeking his first octagon victory after falling short in his first attempt.
Meanwhile at Middleweight, Marvin Vettori (12-4-1) will enter the octagon again after losing a split decision to Israel Adesanya in April 2018. Since that fight, Adesanya has scored four major wins, recently capturing the UFC Interim Title against Kelvin Gastelum. Vettori would love to follow in his footsteps but first, he must beat Cezar Ferreira (13-7), the inaugural winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.
Also announced was Karl Robertson vs. John Phillips. After returning to Light Heavyweight and submitting to Glover Teixeira, Robertson (7-2) now returns to 185lbs, taking on the struggling Welshman Phillips (21-9). Most recently, Phillips lost a close split decision to Jack Marshman, a fighter Robertson defeated in November 2018.
These five fights join two other recent announcements already covered on Fightful: Sara McMann vs. Nicco Montano and Cynthia Calvillo vs. Livia Renato Souza. The UFC Fight Night event takes place at the Golden 1 Center on July 13th. It remains without a scheduled main event but will air on ESPN+.
