Cageside Catch-up: UFC returns to New Jersey in August

Welcome to "Cageside Catch-up" at theScoreMMA, our roundup of the latest MMA news and announcements.

UFC on ESPN 5 set for Aug. 3

UFC officials announced Thursday the promotion will be returning to Newark, N.J., Aug. 3 for UFC on ESPN 5. Tickets will be available to the public June 28.

No matchups have currently been added, but MMAJunkie's Nolan King reports a flyweight bout pitting Jordan Espinosa (12-5) against Matt Schnell (12-4) will take place.

Newark hasn't hosted a UFC event since January 2016 when Anthony Johnson knocked out Ryan Bader in the main event of UFC on FOX 18. However, New Jersey hosted UFC Fight Night 128 in Atlantic City in April 2018 with Kevin Lee beating Edson Barboza via TKO.

Cormier, Adesanya, and Nunes nominated for ESPY Awards

ESPN recently announced its nominees for the 2019 ESPY Awards and for the first time in history, the network divided up MMA and Boxing.

In the past, the ESPY's combined both sports when handing out its "Best Fighter" award. The ceremony takes place July 10 in Los Angeles.

Nominated in the new "Best MMA Fighter" category is UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, women's featherweight and bantamweight titleholder Amanda Nunes, two-division champion Henry Cejudo, and interim middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

You can cast your vote here.

Soriano, De Castro pick up UFC contracts

The first week of "Dana White's Contender Series" took place Tuesday with Puna Sorano and Yorgan De Castro both picking up UFC contracts.

Xtreme Couture middleweight Soriano (6-0) defeated Jamie Pickett (9-4) by unanimous decision, while former CES MMA heavyweight De Castro (5-0) finished Alton Meeks (3-1) in the first round via strikes.

Here are the full results from that card and Dana White's explanation for the contracts.

• Puna Soriano def. Jamie Pickett via unanimous decision
• Hannah Goldy def. Kali Robbins via unanimous decision
• Brendan Loughnane def. Bill Algeo via unanimous decision
• Yorgan De Castro def. Alton Meeks via TKO (leg kick and hammer fists)

Modafferi now faces Maia on July 20

With Roxanne Modaferri losing her opponent Liz Carmouche earlier this week, the promotion has made quick work in finding her replacement.

Jennifer Maia (16-5-1) will now face Modafferi on July 20 for UFC on ESPN 4. The 30-year-old flyweight already holds a split-decision victory over "The Ultimate Fighter 26" competitor at Invicta FC 19 in September 2016.

Modafferi (23-15) is coming off an impressive win over Antonino Shevchenko at UFC St. Petersburg where she handed the Contender Series winner her first professional loss.

With this 125-pound matchup finalized, here's an updated look at the card which takes place at AT&T Center in San Antonio.

• Rafael dos Anjos vs. Leon Edwards
• Walt Harris vs. Aleksei Oleinik
• Juan Adams vs. Greg Hardy
• Andrei Arlovski vs. Ben Rothwell
• Jennifer Maia vs. Roxanne Modafferi
• Irene Aldana vs. Raquel Pennington
• Dan Hooker vs. James Vick
• Ray Borg vs. Gabriel Silva
• Alex Caceres vs. Steven Peterson
• Klidson Abreu vs. Sam Alvey
• Felipe Colares vs. Domingo Pilarte
• Mario Bautista vs. Jin Soo Son
• Alexander Hernandez vs. Francisco Trinaldo