A battle of lightweight veterans has been added to UFC on ESPN 31, set for December 4.
UFC veteran lightweights Clay Guida (36-21) and Leonardo Santos (18-4-1) are set to clash on December 4, as first announced by Guida himself on social media. The fight is set to be a part of the UFC on ESPN 31 card, likely set for the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card is expected to be headlined by a bantamweight clash between former featherweight champion Jose Aldo and contender Rob Font.
For former Strikeforce lightweight champion Guida, the fight will be his 31st walk to the octagon. The Hall of Famer’s fight with Santos will be his third fight of the year, as he already defeated Michael Johnson in February, before dropping a controversial split decision loss to Mark O. Madsen in August. Despite being 39-years-old, Guida has shown no signs of slowing down but has lost three of his last four bouts heading into his showdown with Santos.
The 41-year-old Brazilian Santos is looking to rebound in his second fight of 2021. Santos previously lost to Grant Dawson via knockout in March. However, prior to the loss to Dawson, Santos was on a tremendous run. Santos was unbeaten in his last 13 appearances in the cage, having notable wins over the likes of Kevin Lee, Anthony Rocco Martin, and Stevie Ray.
The full bout lineup for UFC on ESPN 31 is not currently finalized, but as of now the card features:
- Rob Font vs. Jose Aldo
- Clay Guida vs. Leonardo Santos
- Tanner Boser vs. Sergei Pavlovich
- Bryan Barberena vs. Matt Brown
- Chris Gruetzemacher vs. Claudio Puelles
- Rafael Fiziev vs. Brad Riddell
- Brendan Allen vs. Brad Tavares
- Montserrat Conejo vs. Mallory Martin
- Jimmy Crute vs. Jamahal Hil
- Manel Kape vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov
- Jake Matthews vs. Jeremiah Wells
- Louis Smolka vs. Vince Morales
