A pair of bantamweight veterans are set to throw down next February.
Former WEC champ Eddie Wineland (24-14-1) will face John Castaneda (17-5) at the UFC’s February 20, 2021 event. Castaneda confirmed the booking Monday, after an initial report by MMA Junkie. He’d previously teased that fight news was imminent.
“Sexy Mexi” Castaneda is now eight years into his pro career, which has taken him to promotions like RFA and King of the Cage. After a lengthy stint with Combate Americas, where he went to the finals in the Copa Combate tournament, Castaneda jumped to the UFC in 2020 — only to lose his debut against Nathaniel Wood.
Wineland last competed against Sean O’Malley in June, where he was knocked out within a round against the “Sugar Show” fighter. Wineland has been fighting for the better part of two decades, winning gold in World Extreme Cagefighting and joining the UFC when WEC was absorbed into the promotion, bringing with it an influx of talent. The Texas-born fighter found himself fighting for interim bantamweight gold at UFC 165 in Toronto in 2013, against Renan Barao.
Having fought multiple generations of the best bantamweights around, including Urijah Faber, Barao, Takeya Mizugaki, John Dodson, and Brad Pickett, among others, Wineland will now set his sights on Castaneda next year.
The UFC’s February 20, 2021 card does not yet have an official location announced. The following fights have been reported for the card thus far:
Aleksei Oleinik vs. Chris Daukaus
Danny Chavez vs. Jared Gordon
Shana Dobson vs. Casey O’Neill
Eddie Wineland vs. John Castaneda
