Bangor native Emily Kagan returns to the UFC octagon for the first time in nearly a year Thursday night when she faces Kailin Curran in a three-round women’s strawweight bout on the undercard of UFC Fight Night 80 in Las Vegas.
The fight, and the entire card, will be streamed live on the UFC Fight Pass subscription service.
The 34-year-old Kagan last fought Dec. 12, 2014, when she lost a unanimous decision to Angela Hill as part of The Ultimate Fighter Season 20 Finale card. Kagan was one of 16 fighters in that season of the televised series, and as the 15th seed dropped a majority decision to No. 2 Joanne Calderwood in her first TUF match.
Kagan (3-2) trains at the Jackson-Wink MMA Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where her teammates include recently crowned UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm. Holm scored a second-round knockout of previously undefeated Ronda Rousey to win that title on Nov. 15 in Melbourne, Australia.
Curran, 24, also is 3-2 overall and like Kagan is coming off two straight losses, most recently a third-round submission defeat to Alex Chambers on May 15 in Adelaide, Australia.
The UFC Fight Night 80 card will be headlined by a women’s strawweight (115-pound) match between two of the top prospects in the division, No. 3 Rose Namajunas (4-2) and No. 7 Paige VanZant (6-1). Namajunas, 23, reached the title match of TUF 20 before losing by third-round submission to Carla Esparza. The 21-year-old VanZant is undefeated in three UFC fights.
The Kagan-Curran bout is scheduled for shortly after 7 p.m., while the Fight Night 80 main card is set for 10 p.m.
Rival gym stars to collide
Two Marine Corps veterans from rival Bangor-area MMA gyms will collide in the main event of NEF 21 on Feb. 6, 2016, at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston.
New England Fights promoters announced Tuesday that Bruce “Pretty Boy” Boyington of Young’s MMA and Boyington’s Taekwondo Academy in Bangor will defend his NEF pro lightweight championship against Jon Lemke of Team Irish MMA Fitness Academy in Brewer.
Boyington (12-8) has won three straight fights and six of his last seven, including a three-round decision over Rodrigo Almeida on a World Series of Fighting card in October and a third-round TKO victory over Jimmy Davidson last month during a title defense at NEF XX in Lewiston.
“I don’t really understand why he would want a fight with me right now,” said Boyington in a press release. “I do believe he will show up and give his best effort, but I wouldn’t want to fight me right now. I’m dangerous and my confidence is through the roof, and when it’s like this, it is going to take a world-class athlete to stop me, but my focus this whole camp will be on remaining humble and focused.”
Lemke (5-3) is considered the No. 1 contender for Boyington’s NEF title, particularly after defeating previously unbeaten Matt Denning via first-round TKO in the NEF XX co-main event.
“I am so incredibly grateful and excited to be fighting for NEF once again and especially an opportunity to fight for the title,” said Lemke. “Those who know my story know what a long road this has been for me, which makes it all the more special. Bruce is the man and has done a phenomenal job promoting himself as champion, and in the process brought a lot of attention to the rest of the MMA community in the area. He has a couple of titles with different promotions and had fights on the national stage.
“He presents a unique and explosive set of challenges, and I very much look forward to rising up and meeting that challenge head on,” he said.
