A former champion has the opportunity to prove he still belongs on the short list in his new weight class, while a fighter with championship aspirations finally has himself a big-name fight.
That’s all down to a highly consequential welterweight main event put together for The Ultimate Fighter 28 Finale, where former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos will sqare off withKamaru Usman. The UFC announced the fight, which will be held Friday, Nov. 30 at the Pearl at the Palms Theatre in Las Vegas, on Tuesday.
Dos Anjos (28-10) is looking to shake off a unanimous decision loss to Colby Covington in an interim welterweight title fight at UFC 225. That was the first loss since jumping up to 170 pounds for Dos Anjos, who won his previous three fights. Dos Anjos was UFC lightweight champion for just over 15 months in 2015-16.
Usman (13-1), meanwhile, is undefeated in the UFC. His 8-0 run in the company started by winning The Ultimate Fighter 21, and his most recent victory was a unanimous decision overDemian Maia at UFC Santiago on May 19.
Usman was also recently on retainer for the UFC welterweight title fight between Tyron Woodleyand Darren Till, where he made weight and was on standby in case either fighter dropped out. But both fighters made weight and Woodley submitted Till in the second to retain his crown.
The UFC also announced the card will feature the TUF 28 heavyweight and women’s featherweight finals; a bantamweight bout between Pedro Munhoz (16-3, 1 NC) and Bryan Caraway (21-9); former Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez (22-7) vs. Arnold Allen (13-1); Ashlee Evans-Smith (6-3) vs. Antonina Shevchenko (6-0); Roosevelt Roberts (6-0) vs. Darrell Horcher(13-3); Darren Stewart (9-3) vs. Edmen Shahbazyan (6-0); and Tim Means (27-10) vs. Ricky Rainey (13-5).
More News
Quiñonero fights Verdadero in Resbak 2
Resbak 2 at Malungon, Sarangani Province on July 12
Garde stops Baliente in 1st round in “Resbak”