A key fight in the UFC’s bantamweight division has joined Boston’s UFC 292 in August.
Already topped by a 135lb title fight that sees champ Aljamain Sterling defending against Sean O’Malley, UFC 292 now gets former champ Henry Cejudo (16-3) taking on Marlon “Chito” Vera (20-8-1).
ESPN was first to report the news on Monday, with Vera subsequently confirming the booking on social media.
Cejudo is fresh off his UFC 288 loss to Sterling, which ended in a split decision and had marked the Olympic gold medallist and former double-champ’s return to action following a three-year retirement.
Prior to hanging up the gloves following a win over Dominick Cruz in May 2020, Cejudo had captured both flyweight and bantamweight gold in the UFC, defeating names like Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, T.J. Dillashaw, and Marlon Moraes in the process.
Vera will also enter the match-up off a loss, having dropped a decision against Cory Sandhagen back in March. Also a close fight that split the judges, “Chito” saw a four fight win streak in which he had stopped two former UFC champions, Dominick Cruz and Frankie Edgar, snapped in the bout.
UFC 292 is set to take place at the TD Garden in Boston, MA on August 19, 2023. In addition to the main event of Sterling vs. O’Malley, a women’s strawweight title fight also features, with Weili Zhang set to defend her belt against Amanda Lemos.
The following match-ups have been reported for the event:
- Aljamain Sterling (c) vs. Sean O’Malley — for the UFC bantamweight championship
- Zhang Weili (c) vs. Amanda Lemos — for the UFC women’s strawweight championship
- Geoff Neal vs. Ian Machado Garry
- Cody Garbrandt vs. Mario Bautista
- Chris Weidman vs. Brad Tavares
- Andre Petroski vs. Gerald Meerschaert
- Andrea Lee vs. Natalia Silva
- Gregory Rodrigues vs. Dennis Tiuliulin
- Karine Silva vs. Maryna Moroz
- Song Yadong vs. Rob Font
- Henry Cejudo vs. Marlon Vera
