Portugal’s Fialho (13-3, 1NC) will take on UFC alum Stefan Sekulic (14-4) at UAE Warriors 24 later this month. Multiple sources with knowledge of the booking confirmed the news to Cageside Press on Tuesday.

UAE Warriors 24 will take place at the Jiu Jitsu Arena in Abu Dhabi on Friday, October 29, 2021. The event marks the second of back-to-back shows, with UAE Warriors 23: Arabia 5 coming a day earlier.

Winner of his last three fights, Fialho has been on the rise since dropping a lone appearance in LFA last year. Since that setback, Fialho has three stoppages in his three wins, all within the calendar year. That streak includes an 18 second knockout of Sang Hoon Yoo at UAE Warriors 20.

Kicking off his professional career in 2014, a 5-0 run on the Portuguese regional scene would bring Fialho to Bellator, where he’d extended his streak to seven straight victories. While he’d hit a speed bump against future UFC fighter Chidi Njokuani, Fialho would then win his next two fights under the Bellator MMA banner, then jump ship to the Professional Fighters League for their 2019 season.

During the league’s 2019 regular season, Fialho would come up short against another future UFC fighter, Chris Curtis. His season ended with a loss to Glaico Franca, which was later overturned to a No Contest when Franca tested positive for banner substances.

Fialho holds notable wins over Javier Torres and AJ Matthews, among others.

Sekulic, who went 0-2 with the UFC from 2018 to 2021, has bounced back nicely, earning two wins under the Serbian Battle Championship banner in July and August of this year. Both fights went the distance, with Sekulic earning a unanimous decision in each.

UAE Warriors 24 is expected to be headlined by bantamweight champ Vinicius de Oliveira (16-2) defending his title against EFC champ Sylvester Chipfumbu (7-3).

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Grant was competing for the first time since August 2020, after being forced to pull out of a December match-up due to a COVID-19 diagnosis.

Grant opened with a pair of low kicks and a right hand that missed the mark. Sekulic fired back with a leg kick of his own, and followed that with a second. As the action progressed, Grant slid in with a right hand and slipped out as Sekulic looked to land a head kick. Sekulic kept moving forward and Grant fired off a shot to the body. Sekulic then landed a body kick on Grant but Grant landed a leg kick in return. Sekulic kept pressing forward and exploded into a flying knee that just missed the mark.

In a closely contested round (and fight, as it turned out), Grant circled then moved in with a right hand that Sekulic slipped away from. Grant followed that up with a high kick that Sekulic was able to block. Shortly after Sekulic shot in on a takedown that was a long time coming, and took Grant to the mat. Grant was able to work back to his feet just as the round came to an end.

In the second, Grant came out and worked his jab, while Sekulic answered with a leg kick. Sekulic moved forward with a pair of kicks and Grant answered with his own. They exchanged more kicks, then Sekulic changed levels and got the take down. Sekulic now worked in half guard and Grant tried to lock Sekulic down. Sekulic tried to improve position but Grant exploded and was able to get back to his feet. Granted landed a straight right and a counter right when Sekulic looked to land the high kick. Sekulic then closed the distance to get into the clinch, but round ended before he could do any damage.

The opening of the third round brought with it the feeling that it was still anyone’s fight. Grant got off first with a high kick that Sekulic blocked; he fired off a second kick that Sekulic slid out of range of. Grant then shot in for a take down of his own and took Sekulic to the mat. Except, he didn’t seem to like the position and gave up on it, getting back to his feet. Grant landed a straight to the body of Sekulic and a second that followed, but Sekulic rushed forward for the take down and took Grant to the mat for a moment. Grant popped back to his feet and the two exchanged with Sekulic landing a hard straight punch that Grant answered, care of a right hand of his own.

Time was becoming a factor if anyone was looking for a finish. Grant now pressed forward with another hard right but Sekulic answered back with 1-2 combination that stunned Grant. Sekulic then took his opponent to the mat and locked in the guillotine but time was not on his side. Grant was able to survive until the end of the round, in what was the closest either man had come to a finish.

PAINFULLY TIGHT 😱 HOW DID GRANT SURVIVE!? #UFC261 pic.twitter.com/c4W8uuOYq6

— UFC (@ufc) April 25, 2021

Despite Grant being the American fighter in an arena full of American fans, his split decision win was met by a chorus of boos on Saturday.

Official Result: Dwight Grant def. Stefan Sekulic by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

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At this week’s UFC 261 media day, the former SBC champion addressed the time off, and what exactly happened that resulted in in two-year sanction for the use of banned substances.

“It was a little bit tough. I tried to evolve as much as I could,” Sekulic (12-3) said in regards to his time off. With some solid training and quality training partners, “I think I got 20 to 30 percent better than last time.”

Asked about what led to his suspension, Sekulic revealed that “I had a tough injury in March of that year. I had a very complicated operation.” The welterweight, who lost a unanimous decision in his debut earlier in the year, wasn’t even sure if his career would continue. “I didn’t know if I was gonna come back, ever, to take a punch or something,” he admitted.

Then, after surgery — the operation in question was on Sekulic’s jaw — he received some additional medical treatment. “I had some therapy, it was my mistake because I didn’t know what it was,” he admitted. “Something stayed in my body that shouldn’t be [there]. It was my mistake, because I didn’t ask what it was. So when USADA came back, it was positive for some stuff.”

According to USADA, Sekulic tested positive for drostanolone and its metabolites, and additionally, a metabolite of metandienone. Both are anabolic agents banned from competition at all times under the UFC’s Anti-Doping Policy.

“We tried to do our best to explain what happened, but at the end of day, it was my mistake. It is what it is,” said Sekulic. In fact, he added, he hadn’t even been planning on fighting at all that year, as a result of the surgery. Which would have avoided the situation entirely, as he would not have been under USADA’s purview. When the opportunity to join the promotion in September 2018 arose, however, Sekulic couldn’t pass it up. “When the UFC calls you, you don’t back out,” he stated.

In his return, Sekulic has been matched up with Dwight Grant. “He’s a little bit unorthodox,” noted the Serbian, citing Grant’s use of angles. “But as long as I’m disciplined with my guard and everything, with my movement, I think I can beat him easily.”

Watch the full UFC 261 media day scrum with Stefan Sekulic above. The event takes place this Saturday, April 24 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The main card airs live on PPV.

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Dwight Grant will welcome Stefan Sekulic back from his two-year suspension. UFC officials announced the booking in a press release on Wednesday.

Grant (10-3) only fought once in 2020 in a memorable one-round fight. He faced Daniel Rodriguez at UFC on ESPN: Munhoz vs. Edgar. After hurting Rodriguez in the first minute of the match-up to the point where the fight arguably could have been finished, Rodriguez would come back and finish Grant. The loss would snap Grant’s two-fight winning streak. “The Body Snatcher” was scheduled to fight Li Jingliang at UFC 256, but COVID-19 forced him off the card.

Sekulic (12-3) has not fought since his UFC debut loss to Ramazan Emeev back in 2018. The Serbian would lose a unanimous decision. A few months later, he was given a two-year suspension by USADA after testing positive for drostanolone. Sekulic was cleared to return to active competition on Oct. 31, 2020.

UFC 261 takes place on April 24, when the octagon will be returning to the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacsonville, Florida. Three title fights headline the card.

The card looks like this so far:

• Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal
• Valentina Shevchenko vs. Jessica Andrade
• Zhang Weili vs. Rose Namajunas
• Uriah Hall vs. Chris Weidman
• Jimmy Crute vs. Anthony Smith
• Brendan Allen vs. Karl Roberson
• Randy Brown vs. Alex Oliveira
• Danaa Batgerel vs. Kevin Natividad
• Qileng Aori vs. Jeffrey Molina
• Johnny Munoz vs. Jamey Simmons
• Kazula Vargas vs. Rong Zhu
• Ariane Carnelossi vs. Na Liang
• Dwight Grant vs. Stefan Sekulic

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Another fighter has been handed a lengthy ban from the UFC by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. On Tuesday, USADA announced via a press release that Serbia’s Stefan Sekulic had been banned from competing for two years, after testing positive for multiple banned substances. Sekulic, a welterweight, last competed at UFC Moscow (UFC Fight Night 136) in September, losing his UFC debut against Ramazan Emeev.

Per Tuesday’s press release, Sekulic tested positive for drostanolone and its metabolites, as well as a metandienone metabolite, in an in-competition test at the Fight Night event. The ban means he’ll be out of action until the Fall of 2020.

From Tuesday’s announcement,

Sekulic, 26, tested positive for drostanolone and its metabolites, as well as a metabolite of metandienone, following an in-competition test conducted at UFC Fight Night in Moscow, Russia, on September 15, 2018. These are non-Specified Substances in the class of Anabolic Agents and prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.

Sekulic’s two-year period of ineligibility began on October 31, 2018, the date on which he was provisionally suspended from competition.

Prior to joining the UFC for UFC Moscow, Sekulic (12-3) had spent his entire career competing under the Serbian Battle Championship banner.

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