Trio of fights, including Mara Romero Borella vs. Cortney Casey, headed to May 16 UFC event

The UFC’s third of three Florida events in a week continues to grow with the addition of three fights.

Don’Tale Mayes (7-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) meets Rodrigo Nascimento (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in a heavyweight matchup, Mara Romero Borella (12-7 MMA, 2-3 UFC) takes on Cortney Casey (8-7 MMA, 4-6 UFC) in a women’s flyweight fight, and Giga Chikadze (9-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) fights Mike Davis (8-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at featherweight. MMA Junkie confirmed the three matchups following an initial report from Combate.

The UFC’s May 16 event takes place at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. The card is expected to air on ESPN and stream on ESPN+.

Mayes was set to take on Nascimento twice earlier this month, but both events were scrapped for coronavirus concerns. He’ll be trying to rebound from a loss in his UFC debut this past October by third-round heel hook to Ciryl Gane. That setback snapped a four-fight winning streak.

Nascimento got his UFC shot with a first-round submission of Michal Martinek in a Dana White’s Contender Series fight in July 2019. That kept him unbeaten, but was the Brazilian’s first fight in nearly two years.

Borella has dropped three of her past four fights and two in a row. In February, she followed up a third-round TKO loss to Lauren Murphy with a decision setback against Montana Del La Rosa at UFC on ESPN+ 25.

Casey has dropped three of four, as well. In February 2019, she lost a decision to Cynthia Calvillo at UFC on ESPN 1. She was set to return this past December against Virna Jandiroba, but pulled out of the fight. A May fight against Lara Procopio was part of the coronavirus cancellations, but she’s now rebooked against Borella.

Chikadze in March won his fourth straight fight, including his second straight in the UFC, with a split decision victory over Jamall Emmers at UFC 248. In September 2019, he won his promotional debut with a split call over Brandon Davis at UFC on ESPN+ 18.

Davis will go after his second straight win. This past October, he finished Thomas Gifford with just 15 seconds left in their fight at UFC on ESPN+ 19. That got him back on track after a submission loss to Gilbert Burns in April 2019.

The UFC’s May 16 lineup now includes:

• Walt Harris vs. Alistair Overeem
• Eryk Anders vs. Krzysztof Jotko
• Anthony Hernandez vs. Kevin Holland
• Marlon Vera vs. Song Yadong
• Edson Barboza vs. Dan Ige
• Jared Gordon vs. Sean Woodson
• Darren Elkins vs. Nate Landwehr
• Don’Tale Mayes vs. Rodrigo Nascimento
• Mara Romero Borella vs. Cortney Casey
• Giga Chikadze vs. Mike Davis