The UFC Wichita card is rapidly shaping its card for the March 9 event. After revealing its headliner, Junior dos Santos vs. Derrick Lewis, UFC officials recently announced three more fights for the night, on Twitter, including the return of heavyweight veteran Ben Rothwell, who is scheduled to take on Blagoy Ivanov. The company also announced a female bantamweight bout between Marion Reneau and Yana Kunitskaya and a middleweight bout between Tim Boetsch and Omari Akhmedov.
Away from the Octagon for two and a half years because of a failed USADA drug test, Ben Rothwell (36-10) dropped a lopsided unanimous decision to Junior dos Santos back in April 2016. Before that, ‘Big Ben’ was on a four-fight winning streak, which included wins over Brandon Vera, Matt Mitrione, Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett.
Headed to his second Octagon appearance, Blagoy Ivanov (16-2-1 NC) share something with his next opponent, his most recent loss was also an unanimous decision defeat to Junior dos Santos, but back in July 2018. Against Rothwell, ‘Bagata’ will look for his first UFC win.
Middleweight veteran Tim Boestch (21-12) will try and bounce back from a submission loss to jiu-jitsu specialist Antonio Carlos Jr., in April 2018. Meanwhile, Omari Akhmedov (17-4-1) comes off a majority draw against Marvin Vettori, in December 2017.
Yana Kunitskaya (11-4-1 NC) will try her second straight Octagon win after beating Lina Lansberg via unanimous decision back in October 2018, while Marion Reneau (9-4-1) will try and recover from an unanimous decision loss to Cat Zingango, in July 2018.
Furthermore, a welterweight bout between grapplers Sergio Moraes and Anthony Rocco Martin was reported by MMA DNA’s Marcel Dorff, on Twitter, for the same card.
UFC Fight Night 146 takes place in Wichita, Kansas, on March 9. The card will be headlined by a heavyweight bout between former champion Junior dos Santos and most recent title challenger, Derrick Lewis.