A pair of interesting bouts have been added to Eagle FC’s return to the United States.
Former UFC title challenger Ray Borg will take on Ricky Bandejas in a bantamweight bout and Rizvan Kuniev will defend his heavyweight title against UFC veteran Anthony Hamilton at Eagle FC 46 on March 11 in Miami, promoter Khabib Nurmagomedov told ESPN on Monday.
This will be the first time Kuniev will defend the Eagle title on United States soil.
Borg (15-5) has won two straight after departing the UFC. Most recently, the Mexico native defeated Cody Gibson via unanimous decision last month at Eagle FC 44.
Borg, still just 28 years old, challenged Demetrious Johnson for the UFC flyweight title at UFC 216 in October 2017. He struggled with personal issues, including a brain illness affecting his infant son Anthony, and weight-cutting difficulties in the UFC before being released in 2020.
Bandejas (15-6) has won two of his last three fights with Combate Global. The 30-year-old New Jersey native beat Conor McGregor protégé James Gallagher under the Bellator banner in 2018.
Kuniev (11-2-1) beat Edivan Santos via third-round TKO on Dana White’s Contender Series last September. The Dagestan native has won nine straight fights. Kuniev, 28, has been Eagle FC heavyweight champion since December 2020.
Hamilton (18-10), a 41-year-old New Mexico native, had a three-fight winning streak snapped by Vladimir Dayneko last September in Eagle FC.
Eagle FC 46 will be headlined by a 165-pound fight between Kevin Lee, a former UFC interim title challenger, and Diego Sanchez, a longtime former UFC fighter who won the first-ever Ultimate Fighter 1 in 2005.