The UFC’s first trip to Utica has its first three fights.
On Monday, officials confirmed that Walt Harris will battle Daniel Spitz in a heavyweight bout, and flyweights Hector Sandoval and Jarred Brooks will throw down at the June 1 Fight Night event, which will take place at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica, N.Y. The Utica Observer-Dispatch was first to report these matchups.
A previously reported bout between women’s flyweight contenders Sijara Eubanks and Lauren Murphy was also confirmed.
Harris sports a 3-6 UFC record in two stints with the promotion and is currently on a two-fight skid. He fought four times in 2017, knocking out Chase Sherman and Cyril Asker to start the year. At UFC 216 last October, he found himself facing former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum when Werdum’s original opponent Derrick Lewis was forced to bow out at the last second with a back injury. Werdum would go on to submit Harris in 65 seconds.
Originally, Harris was supposed to fight Mark Godbeer at that show and the two were rescheduled for UFC 217 the following month. Harris would again end up in the loss column, but this time due to a dubious disqualification when it looked like he threw a head kick immediately after the referee signaled for a pause in the action to address a low blow. The loss dropped Harris’s overall record to 10-7.
Spitz (6-1) has split his two Octagon appearances, losing to Godbeer by unanimous decision last March before rebounding with a 24-second TKO victory over Anthony Hamilton.
Eubanks (2-2) and Murphy were housemates on season 26 of The Ultimate Fighter. This will be Eubanks’ first official UFC fight after going 3-0 in the TUF 26 tournament to earn a spot in the finals, only to miss out on that opportunity when she failed to make weight for the bout that would crown the promotion’s inaugural female champion at 125 pounds.
Murphy (10-3) would lose in the opening round of TUF 26 to eventual champion Nicco Montano, but was successful in her move to flyweight at the finale show, defeating former Invicta FC champion Barb Honchak by split decision. Prior to that, she went 1-3 competing in the UFC’s bantamweight division.
Sandoval (14-4), who is coming off of a 15-second KO loss to Dustin Ortiz, will look to bounce back when he takes on Brooks (13-1), who suffered his first career loss by split decision against Deiveson Figueiredo last October.