Michel Pereira finally gets his shot at the UFC’s welterweight top 15 in January.
MMA Fighting was the first to report the news that Michel Pereira will fight No. 14 ranked Mulism Salikhov on January 15 at UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Chikadze. Pereira would confirm the news on his Instagram story.
Salikhov (18-2) has been on a roll since losing his UFC debut in 2017, winning five straight. In his most recent fight, he defeated Francisco Trinaldo in a slugfest at UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Sakai in June. The win saw him placed into the rankings. Before his most recent victory, he defeated Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos last year.
After losing two of his first three fights in the UFC, Pereira (25-11-2) is now riding a three-fight win streak. First, he submitted Zelim Imadaev, winning Performance of the Night, and then became the first fighter in the UFC to defeat Khaos Williams. In his only fight in 2021, he defeated Niko Price at UFC 264 in a wild fight.
No location, venue, or broadcast plan has been officially announced for the January 15, 2022 event.
The UFC’s January 15 Fight Night card currently breaks down as follows:
- Calvin Kattar vs. Giga Chikadze
- Brandon Royval vs. Rogerio Bontorin
- Katlyn Chookagian vs. Jennifer Maia
- Muslim Salikhov vs. Michel Pereira
- Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Joaquin Buckley
- Kay Hansen vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
- Bill Algeo vs. Joanderson Brito
- Zarrukh Adashev vs. Kleydson Rodrigues
- Brian Kelleher vs. Saidyokub Kakhramonov
- Court McGee vs. Ramiz Brahimaj
- Ashley Yoder vs. Vanessa Demopoulos
- Viacheslav Borshchev vs. Dakota Bush
- Chase Sherman vs. Jake Collier
