Michael Aswell Jr. returns to the Octagon on June 20th. The teammate of UFC flyweight champion Joshua Van takes on Gastón Bolaños in the featherweight division.
The fight takes place during UFC Vegas 119 at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas. Aswell Jr. will make his fourth appearance inside the Octagon. For Bolaños it will be the fifth time he fights inside the UFC. A flyweight bout between former title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi & Manel Kape headlines the event.
Michael Aswell Jr. Is Always In Entertaining Fights
In 2024, Michael Aswell Jr. tried to get into the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series. Aswell Jr. lost a controversial split decision against Bogdan Grad. He returned to the regional scene, where he picked up a win and got the call from the UFC. Aswell Jr. debuted on short notice at a weight class above, in the lightweight division, against Bolaji Oki.
In a competitive fight, the American came up short via unanimous decision. Aswell Jr. went back to his normal weight class in his sophomore outing and was able to get a quick TKO win over Lucas Almeida. Unfortunately, Aswell Jr. lost his most recent fight just over a month ago against the undefeated Luke Riley. The American will now challenge Bolaños in search of his second win in the UFC.
New Weight Class for Gastón Bolaños
Bolaños entered the UFC in 2023. The Peruvian fighter came over from Bellator MMA. Bolaños had a great start in the UFC with a debut win against Aaron Phillips. In his three fights after that win, he won against Cortavious Romious but got finished against both Marcus McGhee and Quang Le.
Bolaños decided that the bantamweight division was part of his past and continued his career at featherweight. He was booked twice this year to make his debut, but both opponents didn’t make it to fight day. Because of that, his upcoming fight against Aswell Jr. will be his UFC debut at featherweight.
Title Eliminator In The Flyweight Division
The event is headlined by a very important fight in the UFC flyweight division. Manel Kape hopes to add a fourth win to his three-fight winning streak. The former RIZIN FF champion takes on Kyoji Horiguchi. The Japanese superstar fought in his first stint in the UFC for the title but lost to then-champion Demetrious Johnson.
Horiguchi left the promotion and won titles at Bellator MMA and RIZIN FF. Horiguchi returned to the UFC in 2025 and has won two fights since his comeback. A win for Horiguchi against Kape might secure him a title shot. Both men fought each other in 2017. Horiguchi won that night by submission after three rounds. On June 20th, the rematch will determine the next contender.
UFC Vegas 119 (Meta Apex) – June 20th
- Manel Kape vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
- Karol Rosa vs. Luana Santos
- Andre Lima vs. Kevin Borjas
- Ion Cutelaba vs. Navajo Stirling
- Michael Aswell Jr. vs. Gastón Bolaños
- Melsik Baghdasaryan vs. Murtazali Magomedov
- Mitch Raposo vs. Allan Nascimento
- Christian Rodriguez vs. Hyder Amil
- Bia Mesquita vs. Melissa Mullins
- Jhonata Diniz vs. José Luiz
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