James Vick moves to welterweight, fights Niko Price at UFC on ESPN+ 19
James Vick has a date, opponent and location in his sights for his 170-pound debut.
A bout between Texas’ Vick (13-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) and Niko Price (13-3-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC) is in the works for UFC on ESPN+ 19.
A person with knowledge of the booking confirmed the news to MMA Junkie following a report by Mike Heck. The person asked to remain anonymous since the UFC has not yet made an official announcement.
UFC on ESPN+ 19, takes place Oct. 12 in Tampa, Fla. The card streams on ESPN+ and is headlined by former women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Michelle Waterson.
In a Facebook post, Vick announced the move to welterweight in July after three straight losses at lightweight. “The Texecutioner” won nine out of his first 10 bouts inside the UFC cage. After he lost to Justin Gaethje by brutal knockout in August 2015, Vick returned to fight Paul Felder in February 2019. Vick lost by unanimous decision.
Most recently, Vick was viciously knocked out by Dan Hooker at UFC on ESPN 4 in July.
Like Vick, Florida’s Price will look to turn his luck around in his home state. The 29-year-old welterweight has won three of his past five bouts. In his most recent outing, Price was stopped with a second-round TKO after a back-and-forth battle against Geoff Neal.
In his nine UFC outings, Price never has gone the distance, but has racked up five finishes.