The UFC is building back up its upcoming Denver event after a slew of withdrawals.

The most recent addition to UFC on ESPN 59 is a bantamweight bout as Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Montel Jackson has been booked. The event takes place July 13 at Ball Arena.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Blackshear (14-6-1 MMA, 2-2-1 UFC) aims to bounce back from a UFC 292 unanimous decision loss to Mario Bautista in August. The loss snapped a two-fight winning steak. Since then, Blackshear has moved his training to Thailand and Tiger Muay Thai.

Jackson (13-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) rides a four-fight winning streak into the matchup but has struggled to get into the cage as of late. His three most recent bookings have fallen through including two opponent withdrawals for UFC on ABC 6 on June 22.

With the addition, the UFC on ESPN 59 fight card includes:

• Rose Namajunas vs. Tracy Cortez
• Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Muslim Salikhov
• Charles Johnson vs. Joshua Van
• Drew Dober vs. Jean Silva
• Gabriel Bonfim vs. Ange Loosa
• Mariya Agapova vs. Luana Santos
• Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Fatima Kline
• Julian Erosa vs. Christian Rodriguez
• Josh Fremd vs. Andre Petroski
• Cody Brundage vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan
• Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Montel Jackson
• Nazim Sadykhov vs. TBA

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 59.

The Denver Nuggets have had a very quiet offseason so far. Losing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Orlando Magic and trading Reggie Jackson to the Charlotte Hornets, Denver has not yet replaced either player. The Nuggets have strong interest in acquiring Russell Westbrook from the LA Clippers, but he is still under contract with them, so that situation remains unresolved.

In a recent report from Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, it was revealed that both Denver and the Miami Heat had interest in sharpshooting guard Buddy Hield before he joined the Golden State Warriors in a sign and trade agreement with the Philadelphia 76ers. 

As Scotto mentioned, Denver did not have the financial flexibility to acquire Hield, but still had interest in doing so. Hield could have theoretically given Denver some of what Caldwell-Pope did in his time there, but they are not the same players. As for Miami, they have been rumored to have interest in several different players, but they have also had a relatively quiet transaction period in terms of external additions.

There are a lot of moves still to be made around the NBA this summer, as several key players are expected to switch teams between now and the start of next season. As for Denver, they have yet to get involved in much of this, but likely will at some point. 

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A 22-year-old mother and her two young children were killed in a crash between an off-road vehicle and a pickup in Morgan County on Wednesday.

Destiny Mena and her sons Benjamin and Isaiah were passengers in a Polaris RZR that ran a stop sign and crashed into a pickup truck about 3:30 p.m Wednesday at the intersection of County Road C and County Road 31, 20 miles south of Brush.

Mena, Benjamin, Isaiah and the 22-year-old driver, who has not been identified, all died in the crash. The pickup driver was seriously injured, according to the Colorado State Patrol.

Mena and her sons were identified in a verified GoFundMe created to raise money for their funeral expenses. State Patrol officials said one of the boys was 2 years old and the other was 1 year old.

“Our family is trying to wrap our heads around this sudden and shocking loss, we are asking for support to cover funeral costs and lessen the financial burden of not only having to lay one loved one to rest but three,” organizer James Medina wrote on the page.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

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