MINNEAPOLIS — Union Grand Prix is starting to ramp up another night of fights at the Target Center, but during one of the early media scrums, I got a chance to speak with the promotion’s Founder and CEO Dante Reed.
We began casually talking up the Boss Fight XXXIX lineup, where several new names will be making their Union debuts while other prospects look to prove their case of sticking around. At the top of the card, there are a trio of fights that the head honcho is especially excited to see. The Bantamweight fight between mainstay Lena Lyons and former Everest Strawweight Champion Rachel Parsons has some speculative stakes at hand. Dante Reed mentioned how Gianna Howard wanted to fight again before the end of the year, and with the top of the division traffic jammed with a handful of deserving contenders, he said he will take a long look at this one. Current number one contender Dallas Meechan just earned a split decision victory over Tim Vu at UGP 38, but Reed wouldn’t commit that he would be next in line, especially given that he’s 0-2 against The Ghost.
The Co-Main Event pits two white hot prospects in the Middleweight Division, Noah Vanderkaay and Venus Sagapolutele. This will be Vanderkaay’s third fight in just under six months, which Reed said was a blessing having a guy who’s constantly blowing his phone up asking for a fight. If he can secure a win here, Reed said it would likely move him into a title eliminator bout.
The Main Event pits two Lightweight fighters sitting inside the top three of the rankings. The hometown fan favorite Abbie Peterson looks to rebound from her loss to Delaney Donovan and get back on track toward another crack at the title, while Cameron Moss is looking to string back-to-back wins and solidify himself atop of the division.
Outside of the scenarios brewing in Minneapolis, we also spoke about the November Supercard, UGP 39. First, Dante revealed that he will be bringing back a block of Prelims to UGP 39, and he’s currently in the works of re-signing all of the Season Two Everest Champions, which he wants to book on the year-end event. Dante Reed also made the announcement that Byron McCall will make his first title defense as Middleweight Champion against Lovelie Saint-Cyr. Also, Viktor Volkov and Gauge Lattimore will square off to determine who will become the Interim Heavyweight Champion and Grand Prix winner. One last noteworthy bit that eluded back to the Bantamweight Division, Gianna Howard has requested to fight on the card. An opponent is still to be determined, as well as securing a new contract for the 135 pound Champion.
There’s certainly a lot of moving parts going on behind the scenes and we will keep you updated as soon as it breaks.