Islam Makhachev is all set to defend the welterweight title for the first time against Ian Garry at UFC 330 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on August 15. And this card is promising to be a blockbuster. To make the promotion’s fourth visit to Philadelphia even more special, the UFC has announced four more fights for the event.

According to a report by MMA Fighting, UFC disclosed four new fights for UFC 330, which are: Vicente Luque vs. Tresean Gore (185 lbs), Geoff Neal vs. Chidi Njokuani (170 lbs), Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Dustin Stoltzfus (185 lbs), and Myktybek Orolbai vs. Jeremiah Wells (170 lbs), all on the prelims.

When it comes to being a veteran, Vicente Luque appropriately justifies the word. The Brazilian has been fighting in the UFC since 2015 and has faced big names like Belal Muhammad, Tyron Woodley, and Leon Edwards at the welterweight division. However, Luque’s days at 170 lbs turned a bit lackluster after Kevin Holland and Joel Alvarez handed him back-to-back defeats.

For that, the 34-year-old ascended to the middleweight division by facing Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 327, and he instantly proved his mettle by submitting the former interim title challenger via anaconda choke in the very first round.

His opponent, Tresean Gore, on the other hand, is currently going through a slight career slump as he’s gone 2-2 in his last four fights. Still, Gore bounced back impressively against Azamat Bekoev in April, and that performance has helped him regain some stability in the division for now.

Following one veteran comes another one. At UFC 330, seasoned welterweight veteran Geoff Neal will also make his anticipated return. For most of his career, ‘Handz of Steel’ found himself sitting in the 170 lbs rankings because of his stellar performances. However, Neal has lost three of his last four fights, and his most recent defeats came via vicious first-round knockouts against Carlos Prates and Uros Medic, which ultimately ruled him out of the rankings.

Neal’s adversary, Chidi Njokuani, is no less of a veteran, having already competed in 10 UFC fights with a 5-5 record. Njokuani has also lost two of his last three fights, but only Jake Matthews managed to finish the Texas native via submission. Besides that, the 37-year-old suffered a narrow decision defeat vs Carlos Leal in his most recent outing.

The other two fights that the UFC announced for the Philadelphia card are equally exciting. Myktybek Orolbai is coming off a dominant performance over Chris Curtis, and now he will face the dangerous striker Jeremiah Wells, who defeated the now-retired UFC star Themba Gorimbo in his most recent outing.

Lastly, Mansur Abdul-Malik will look to return to the win column against Dustin Stoltzfus after suffering his first career loss to Alex Pereria’s teammate, Yousri Belgaroui, in his last outing. However, those four matchups weren’t the extent of the UFC’s recent announcement, as the promotion is also all set to end its seven-year drought.  

UFC returns to Sacramento, California, after seven years  

In 2019, the UFC held a Fight Night event at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, headlined by former UFC women’s featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie facing off against Aspen Ladd in a 135 lbs showdown. Since that spectacle, it has taken seven years for the promotion to make its return to the venue.

On August 22, just after the marquee event in Philadelphia concludes, the Sacramento crowd will rejoice as the UFC brings a stellar middleweight encounter between Anthony Hernandez and Gregory Rodrigues as the main event. The promotion announced the fight during the UFC Fight Night 280 broadcast.

Coming to the stakes of the matchup, Anthony Hernandez lost to the reigning middleweight champion Sean Strickland in the UFC Houston main event. In that case, the ethnically Mexican fighter will be looking to bounce back in emphatic fashion. On the other hand, the powerful Gregory Rodrigues is on a tear, riding a three-fight winning streak. The winner of this fight could move themselves one step closer to a future title shot.

That said, with these exciting announcements, the UFC’s 2026 campaign has definitely kept the hype alive even after its ambitious UFC White House event concluded dramatically.