Danaa Batgerel vs. Kyler Phillips targeted for UFC Fight Island event on Oct. 3

A bantamweight bout is in the works for the UFC’s return to Fight Island.

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that a fight between Danaa Batgerel and Kyler Phillips is being targeted for the UFC’s event on Oct. 3. The fight card is scheduled to take place during the promotion’s five-event slate in Abu Dhabi.

Batgerel is coming off of his first promotional win at UFC 248, a first-round knockout of Guido Cannetti. The Mongolian fighter lost a unanimous decision in his octagon debut to Heili Alateng at UFC Shenzen in October 2019 which snapped a three-fight winning streak. The 31-year-old has finished six of his eight victories, and holds a unanimous decision win over current UFC flyweight contender Kai-Kara France in Malaysian promotion Legend FC.

Phillips will look to improve to 2-0 in his UFC tenure following a “Fight of the Night” earning unanimous decision win over Gabriel Silva at Feburary’s UFC Norfolk event. “The Matrix” was a competitor on both season 27 of The Ultimate Fighter and Dana White’s Contender Series. The MMA Lab standout, despite picking up a 46-second TKO win over James Gray on DWCS in 2017, did not win a contract that night but was signed following a first-round finish of Emeka Ifekandu at LFA 59 in February 2019.

The UFC’s Oct. 3 event will be headlined by a women’s bantamweight fight between former champion Holly Holm and surging contender Irene Aldana.