UFC 230 in New York City gets more local flavor
Featherweights Shane Burgos, right, and Godofredo Pepey fight during the UFC Fight Pass prelims at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on July 22, 2017. Burgos won by unanimous decision. Credit: Jeffrey Basinger
Two featherweight bouts have been added to UFC 230 at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 3, and they each have New York City connections.
Shane "Hurricane" Burgos of the Bronx will face Kurt Holobaugh, and Julio Arce from Bayside faces Sheymon Moraes.
Burgos (10-1, 3-1 UFC), a Team Tiger Schulmann fighter, returns to the octagon after his first career loss, a third-round stoppage against Calvin Kattar at UFC 220 in January. Burgos, 27, has experience fighting close to home. He drew a sizable and vocal crowd when he fought at UFC Long Island at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum last summer.
Holobaugh (17-5, 1 NC, 0-2), lost his UFC return bout via third-round knockout to Raoni Barcelos in July.
Arce (15-2, 2-0) made a name for himself in Ring of Combat, a premier regional promotion based in New Jersey and run by Lou Neglia. The 28-year-old Tiger Schulmann fighter from Queens earned a his way into the UFC through "Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series." Though he won his bout on the show, he was not awarded a contract that night. Rather, Arce was brought in as a replacement fighter at UFC 220 and won his first two UFC bouts. He is coming off a third-round submission victory over Daniel Teymur in June.
Moraes (10-2, 1-1) earned a decision victory over Matt Sayles at UFC 227 in August.
No main event has been announced for UFC 230 yet. Other area fighters officially announced for UFC 230 include David Branch of Brooklyn against Jacare Souza, Long Island's Brian Kelleher vs. Domingo Pilarte, Long Island's Matt Frevola vs. Lando Vannata and New York City's Lyman Good vs. Sultan Aliev.
Other bouts made official by the UFC include Nate Diaz vs. Dustin Poirier, Derek Brunson vs. Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa vs. Yoel Romero, though Romero has said an injury likely will keep him off the card.
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
