Chidi Njokuani, Maurice Smith, Lance Palmer Join RFA 3 ‘Stevenson vs. Cochrane’ Card

Welterweights Chidi Njokuani and Bobby Cooper will collide at the June 30 event, as will light heavyweights Maurice Smith and Preston Snook and featherweights Lance Palmer and Nick Macias. The contests join the previously announced lightweight headliner between former UFC title challenger Joe Stevenson and “Ultimate Fighter” Season 15 contestant Dakota Cochrane.

As with the promotion’s first two efforts, RFA 3 takes place at the Viaero Event Center in Kearney, Neb.

The younger brother of current UFC talent Anthony Njokuani, Chidi has won five of his last six bouts. The Las Vegas-based striking specialist looked razor sharp against outclassed competition in his last two outings, finishing Jonathan Harris and John Reedy in a combined 2:49. Cooper has also posted back-to-back wins leading up to the bout, outpointing Nick Budig one year ago before doing the same to Ted Worthington last month.

A former UFC heavyweight champion, 50-year-old Smith returned to the cage after nearly four years on the shelf to dispatch Jorge Cordoba two months ago at RFA 2. Snook last competed in October, when he submitted John Bryant with an armbar to snap a two-fight losing skid.

Representing Team Alpha Male, Palmer, 24, has yet to taste defeat in his three-fight pro career, most recently submitting Jordan Chandler with with an arm-triangle choke on Feb. 24. In Macias, he faces a seven-fight vet who had a four-fight winning streak snapped in a unanimous decision loss to ex-UFC talent Tyler Toner on Dec. 17.