June UFC 289 card in Vancouver gets influx of Canadian fighter talent

Six Canadians and one Canadian-based fighter have been added to the June 10 UFC 289 card at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena.

The six Canadians are flyweight Jasmine Jasudavicius, bantamweight Aiemann Zahabi, featherweights Kyle (The Monster) Nelson and (Mean) Hakeem Dawodu, welterweight (Proper) Mike Malott and middleweight Marc-Andre (Power Bar) Barriault.

Strawweight Diana (Warrior Princess) Belbita was born in Romania but trains out of Stoney Creek, Ont.

The UFC has more than 600 fighters on its active roster. Fifteen of those are Canadian plus Belbita and Mexican-born Loopy Godinez who are both based in Canada.

The previously announced main event sees Brazil’s Amanda Nunes defend her bantamweight title against American Julianna (The Venezuelan Vixen) Pena. The two have met twice already with Pena dethroning Nunes at UFC 269 in December 2021 and losing the 135-pound title back to Nunes at UFC 277 last July.

Other UFC 289 fights include France’s Nassourdine Imavov, ranked 12th among middleweights contenders, against No. 15 Chris (The Action Man) Curtis of the U.S., and Dan (50K) Ige, ranked 13th among featherweight contenders against fellow American Nate (The Train) Landwehr.

Khalil (The War Horse) Rountree Jr., ranked 13th among light-heavyweight contenders, faces fellow American Chris Daukas, the 13th-ranked heavyweight making his debut at 205 pounds. And American Matt (Danger) Schnell, ranked No. 8 among flyweight contenders, meets No. 10 David (The Undertaker) Dvorak of Czechia.

Nelson (13-5-1) takes on American Blake (El Animal) Bilder (8-0-1). Barriault (15-6-O with one no-contest) faces American Eryk (Ya Boi) Anders (15-7-0 with one no-contest).

Nelson calls Huntsville, Ont., home but spends Monday to Thursday at his training base in Stoney Creek. Barriault is a native of Gatineau, Que., who now makes his home in South Florida where he trains.

Calgary’s Dawodu (13-3-1) meets Brazil’s Lucas Almeida (14-1-0).

Jasudavicius, a native of St. Catharines, Ont., who trains in Niagara Falls, Ont., fights American Miranda (Fear The) Maverick (13-4-0). Montreal’s Zahabi (9-2-0) takes on China’s Qileng (Mongolian Murderer) Aori (24-9-0).

Belbita (14-7-0) meets Brazil’s Maria (Spider-Girl) Oliveira (13-6-0) while Malott (9-1-1), from Burlington, Ont., tackles American Adam Fugitt (9-3-0).

The UFC’s last event in Canada was Sept. 14, 2019, before the pandemic, at the same Vancouver venue. Justin (The Highlight) Gaethje stopped fellow American Donald (Cowboy) Cerrone in the first round in the main event before an announced crowd of 15,114.

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Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2003

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