International Fight Week continues to take shape.
A lightweight bout is a targeted addition to UFC 290, which takes place July 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, as Kamuela Kirk and Esteban Ribovics are expected to compete. Verbal agreements are in place with paperwork expected to be issued in the coming days.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the targeted booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Kirk (11-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and Ribovics (11-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) were originally expected to fight at UFC 285 in March. However, Kirk withdrew and was replaced by Loik Radzhabov, a former PFL championship runner-up. Radzhabov defeated Ribovics by unanimous decision.
The bout will mark Kirk’s UFC lightweight debut. He split his appearances at featherweight with an unanimous decision win over Makwan Amirkhani followed by a submission loss to Damon Jackson.
A native to Argentina, Ribovics earned a UFC deal with a quick finish of Thomas Paull on “Dana White’s Contender Series” in August 2022.
With the addition, the UFC 290 lineup includes:
- Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez – for featherweight title
- Brandon Moreno vs. Alexandre Pantoja – for flyweight title
- Dricus Du Plessis vs. Robert Whittaker
- Tresean Gore vs. Bo Nickal
- Niko Price vs. Robbie Lawler
- Dan Hooker vs. Jalin Turner
- Sean Brady vs. Jack Della Maddalena
- Christian Rodriguez vs. Cameron Saaiman
- Denise Gomes vs. Yazmin Jauregui
- Jesus Aguilar vs. Shannon Ross
- Kamuela Kirk vs. Esteban Ribovics
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 290.