A lightweight division attraction may be heading to UFC 219 as #2 Khabib Nurmagomedov is in action against #2 Edson Barboza.
It was Barboza who announced the fight at the UFC Fight Night Sao Paulo Q&A:
“I just got the news a few minutes ago that my next fight will be on Dec. 30 in Las Vegas against Khabib Nurmagomedov,” Barboza said. “I’m really happy with this opportunity. It’s going to be a war."
Nurmagomedov (24-0-0) has already earned eight victories under the UFC banner and his last one came over Michael Johnson at UFC 205. Nurmagomedov has been dealing with a lot of injuries in recent years, having only fought two times in the last three-plus years. Nurmagomedov is fighting a top five ranked fighter for the first time in his UFC run and all of his previous opponents in the promotion were ranked outside of that spot.
Barboza (19-4-0) enters the fight riding a three fight winning streak, which includes a win over former UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis at UFC 197. Barboza has suffered a defeat in almost two years and that last loss came to UFC Interim Lightweight Champion Tony Ferguson at the UFC Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale. Barboza has earned three career wins by finishing fighters with leg kicks, with two of those three wins coming in the UFC.
UFC 219 takes place on Saturday, December 30 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with no main event announced at this time. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
