UFC 239: Jon Jones, Amanda Nunes Title Fights 'Verbally Agreed' On

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will enter the octagon for his third bout in seven months when he defends his title against Thiago Santos at UFC 239 on July 6 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC president Dana White told ESPN that the 205-pound bout will headline the pay-per-view event. According to Brett Okamoto, further sources confirmed that no agreements have been signed by either fighter but both parties have reached an agreement verbally.

In the women’s division, dual-division champion Amanda Nunes will defend her 135-pound bantamweight title against Holly Holm, which will be the co-main event at UFC 239 in Vegas. Similar to the men’s main event, there are only verbal agreements in place with signed contracts yet to be finalized.

Jones teased fans by publicly calling out former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic on Twitter on Wednesday and hinted that a match could be possible in July. But ESPN is reporting that there was never any discussions regarding a bout between the two.

Santos, who is from Rio De Janeiro, was a former middleweight fighter but recorded impressive victories in the light heavyweight division against Eryk Anders and Jimi Manuwa to rise up as a title contender. His last victory was over Jan Blachowicz in February, which ended 39 seconds into the third round via TKO.

Meanwhile, Nunes, who has a 17-4 record is currently considered the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC women’s division and is currently on an eight-fight winning streak that has seen her capture both the women’s bantamweight and featherweight titles. The Brazilian has beaten some big names in her career namely Ronda Rousey, Meisha Tate, Valentina Shevchenko.

But the dual-division champion’s most impressive victory to date is likely to be her 51-second takedown of Chris Cyborg last December via knockout to win the women’s featherweight championship.

Holm, on the other hand, has won just two of her last six fights with her most recent victory coming against Megan Anderson via unanimous decision in the 145-pound category. She suffered a loss to Chris Cyborg in 2017, before which came her last victory in the 135-pound category, which was over Beth Correia via knockout in June 2017.