The UFC continues to announce fights this week for their first quarter of action in the new year, and they’re loading up the UFC schedule with talent rich fighters that will hopefully end the ratings woes of 2017.
As soon as his win over Markus Perez was made official last weekend, unbeaten rising star Eryk Anders called for his next fight to be against a Brazilian icon…in Brazil. On Feb. 3, Anders gets his wish when he faces former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida in the main event of UFC Fight Night 125 in Belem, Brazil.
FS1 will televise the five-round middleweight bout. Tickets for UFC Belem go on sale on Dec. 15.
Despite growing up in Belem, Machida never fought in his hometown as a professional until now. So it goes without saying that this will be an emotional night for “The Dragon,” who has wins over Mark Munoz, Gegard Mousasi and CB Dollaway since dropping down to middleweight. Attempting to spoil the homecoming party will be the hard-hitting Anders, a former linebacker for the University of Alabama. Anders is currently unbeaten in his ten MMA appearances, a run that includes victories over Perez and Rafael Natal.
Today, the UFC also announced some exciting additions to the UFC Fight Night Charlotte event as well.
UFC Fight Night Charlotte goes down on January 27, and features a main event between Derek Brunson and Jacare Souza.
In addition to that compelling middleweight main event, the UFC has added three new lightweight fights as well, including the return of Bobby “King Green against Erik Koch. The promotion also announced two more fights including Vinc Pichel and Joaquim Silva, and a Jordan Rinaldi vs. Gregor Gillespie scrap.
As always, stay tuned to MMAImports.com for all the latest in UFC schedule updates and announcements.
