Undefeated featherweight fighter Joshua Culibao has signed with the UFC and will make his debut at UFC Auckland against Jalin Turner.
Turner was originally set to face Australian Jamie Mullarkey on the card, however, Mullarkey was forced to withdraw due to injury.
Culibao, who has trained with Mullarkey in the past, steps in not only on short notice but up from his usual featherweight division to take on Turner at lightweight.
News of the signing was first released by Sydney promotion Superfight MMA.
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialSuperfight/photos/a.492344384271100/1422450834593779/?type=3&theater
Born in Sydney, Culibao trains out of Igor MMA under head coach Igor Breakenback and holds an unblemished professional record of 8-0 (5 KO/TKO) with a notable victory over Brazilian veteran Rodolfo Marques.
The 25-year-old had a quiet 2019, only fighting once where he stopped Josh Payne in the first round last March. Culibao joins the UFC having collected titles in three of Australia’s major regional promotions: Melbourne’s HEX Fight Series, Adelaide’s Diamond Back FC and Sydney’s SuperFight MMA.
UFC officials have yet to confirm the signing and at this stage.
The full fight card stands as per the following.
Main Card:
- Paul Felder vs. Dan Hooker
- Jimmy Crute vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
- Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Ben Sosoli
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Xiaonan Yan
- Magomed Mustafaev vs. Brad Riddell
- Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Kevin Aguilar
Preliminary Card:
- Jake Matthews vs. Emil Weber Meek
- Callan Potter vs. Kenan Song
- Kai Kara-France vs. Tyson Nam
- Loma Lookboonmee vs. Angela Hill
- Maki Pitolo vs. Takashi Sato
- Shana Dobson vs. Priscila Cachoeira
- Jalin Turner vs. Josh Culibao
