Michelle Waterson vs. Felice Herrig highlights slew of new UFC 229 fight announcements

The UFC’s blockbuster Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor card is filling up fast.

A strawweight bout between top-10 contenders Michelle Waterson vs. Felice Herrig highlighted a slew of new fight announcements for UFC 229, first reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Thursday.

In addition to Waterson vs. Herrig, the Oct. 6 mega-card is set to feature light heavyweights Ovince Saint Preux vs. Dominick Reyes, women’s bantamweights Lina Lansberg vs. Yana Kunitskaya, as well as welterweights Ryan LaFlare vs. Tony Martin.

Waterson (15-6) and Herrig (14-7) are the No. 7 and No. 8 ranked fighters, respectively, in the UFC’s current strawweight rankings. “The Karate Hottie” recently bounced back from back-to-back losses to Rose Namajunas and Tecia Torres with a razor-thin split decision victory over Cortney Casey at UFC on FOX 29. Herrig, meanwhile, saw a four-fight win streak come to an end at UFC 223 when she suffered a split decision loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz.

Saint Preux (23-11) has won four of his last five contests, a run highlighted by a head-kick knockout of Corey Anderson and a first-round armbar over Tyson Pedro. In Reyes (9-0), he meets one of the most promising young prospects in the light heavyweight division. The 28-year-old Reyes has won all three of his UFC appearances via first-round stoppage.

Lansberg (8-3) and Kunitskaya (10-4, 1 NC) are two former featherweights who made their UFC debuts, unfortunately, as opponents for Cris Cyborg. Lansberg has since recovered to bring her UFC record to an even 2-2 with wins over Lucie Pudilova and Gina Mazany, while Kunitskaya has yet to compete since losing to Cyborg via first-round knockout at UFC 222.

LaFlare (14-2) has won two of his three bouts since returning to action in early 2017 following a 14-month injury layoff, beating the likes of Roan Carneiro and Alex Garcia via unanimous decisions. Martin (13-4), meanwhile, made his welterweight debut a successful one with a unanimous decision win over Keita Nakamura at UFC Atlantic City.

UFC 229 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The event is headlined by a much-anticipated lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor.