The UFC is building back up its upcoming Denver event after a slew of withdrawals.
The most recent addition to UFC on ESPN 59 is a bantamweight bout as Da'Mon Blackshear vs. Montel Jackson has been booked. The event takes place July 13 at Ball Arena.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Blackshear (14-6-1 MMA, 2-2-1 UFC) aims to bounce back from a UFC 292 unanimous decision loss to Mario Bautista in August. The loss snapped a two-fight winning steak. Since then, Blackshear has moved his training to Thailand and Tiger Muay Thai.
Jackson (13-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) rides a four-fight winning streak into the matchup but has struggled to get into the cage as of late. His three most recent bookings have fallen through including two opponent withdrawals for UFC on ABC 6 on June 22.
With the addition, the UFC on ESPN 59 fight card includes:
- Rose Namajunas vs. Tracy Cortez
- Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Muslim Salikhov
- Charles Johnson vs. Joshua Van
- Drew Dober vs. Jean Silva
- Gabriel Bonfim vs. Ange Loosa
- Mariya Agapova vs. Luana Santos
- Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Fatima Kline
- Julian Erosa vs. Christian Rodriguez
- Josh Fremd vs. Andre Petroski
- Cody Brundage vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan
- Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Montel Jackson
- Nazim Sadykhov vs. TBA
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 59.
