Punahele Soriano vs. Sedriques Dumas set for UFC Jacksonville

A middleweight matchup between past Contender Series contract winners will take place at the UFC’s return to The Sunshine State this summer.

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that a bout between Punahele Soriano and Sedriques Dumas is set for UFC Jacksonville, which takes place June 24 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.

Soriano will make his seventh octagon appearance and will look to turn things around after suffering losses in three of four. In his most recent appearance, “Puna” was stopped by Roman Kopylov at UFC Vegas 67 in January. Prior to that, Soriano snapped a two-fight skid with a second-round stoppage victory against Dalcha Lungiambula at UFC Long Island this past July.

Dumas will look for his first promotional victory after suffering his lone professional loss in his octagon debut — a second-round submission against Josh Fremd — at UFC Las Vegas in March. Prior to that, the 27-year-old was 7-0 with seven finishes, including a UFC contract earning 47 second submission on the Contender Series this past August.

UFC Jacksonville will be headlined by a pivotal featherweight bout between Josh Emmett and Ilia Topuria.