Two bantamweight fighters will look to notch their first UFC victory when they collide in Atlantic City, N.J.
A new addition to the UFC Fight Night event on March 30 at Boardwalk Hall, Ireland’s Caolan Loughran and Minnesota’s Angel Pacheco will throw down in a three-round bout.
Two people with knowledge of the booking recently confirmed the matchup to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Despite losing his promotional debut in September, Loughran (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) made his arrival known as he leaned into playing the “bad guy” role against home-country fighter Taylor Lapilus in Paris.
Lapilus defeated Loughran by unanimous decision, which snapped a career-long eight-fight winning streak for the former Cage Warriors bantamweight champion.
Pacheco (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) shifts down to bantamweight after a thrilling back-and-forth war against Danny Silva on Dana White’s Contender Series in September.
The bout was regarded by many as one of the best in the series’ history, and as a result, twisted UFC CEO Dana White’s arm into giving Pacheco, who lost by unanimous decision, a multifight deal with the promotion. An emotional moment between Pacheco and White backstage was captured on video and later went viral.
Pacheco, 31, trains under coach Brock Larsen at Start BJJ and cross-trains with the New England Cartel under coach Tyson Chartier. All seven of his professional wins have come inside the distance, and he’s never been finished himself.
With the addition, the UFC Atlantic City lineup includes:
- Erin Blanchfield vs. Manon Fiorot
- Loopy Godinez vs. Virna Jandiroba
- Jacob Malkoun vs. Andre Petroski
- Bruno Silva vs. Chris Weidman
- Dennis Buzukja vs. Connor Matthews
- Dominick Reyes vs. Carlos Ulberg
- Caolan Loughran vs. Angel Pacheco