Brian Kelleher vs. Ricky Simon Finalized For UFC Card On January 16

A re-booking between Brian Kelleher and Ricky Simon has been finalized for the UFC event on January 16.

A source confirmed the booking with Fightful following an initial report by MMA Fighting. Kelleher (22-11) and Simon (16-3) were originally expected to fight on the UFC Vegas 9 card; however, one of Simon's cornermen tested positive for COVID-19 and the fight was scrapped. Kelleher instead took on newcomer Ray Rodriguez and earned a snappy guillotine submission 39-seconds into round one.

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Kelleher has won three of his last four fights. He came up short against Cody Stamann at UFC 250 but beat the aformentioned Rodriguez, Hunter Azure and Ode Osbourne in that stretch. Simon is 2-2 in his last four, sandwiching losses to Rob Font and Urijah Faber between decision wins over Ray Borg and Rani Yahya.

The January 16 card is rumored to be a Fight Night event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada; however, that has not been confirmed by the promotion.

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