Outside Source
Heavyweights Jailton Almeida and Curtis Blaydes are set to clash in a matchup just added to the UFC 299 card set for March 9.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Tuesday.
Almeida and Blaydes were originally scheduled to meet in November, but Blaydes suffered an injury that forced him off the card. Almeida ultimately dominated late replacement Derrick Lewis by unanimous decision to improve his record to 20-2 overall with a perfect 6-0 resume in the UFC.
Widely considered a future title contender at heavyweight, Almeida will face his toughest test to date when he returns to action in March with hopes to enter the championship conversation with a win.
Meanwhile, Blaydes will make his first appearance since falling to Sergei Pavlovich back in April. That loss stopped a three-fight win streak from Blaydes after he dispatched current UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall as well as Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Chris Daukaus.
Now Blaydes will seek to stop Almeida’s momentum when they meet in a three-round heavyweight fight in March.
UFC 299 will be headlined by a bantamweight title fight as reigning champion Sean O’Malley takes on Marlon “Chito” Vera in a rematch. Vera remains the only person on the UFC roster to beat O’Malley so now they’ll run it back again with the 135-pound title on the line.
Guilherme Cruz contributed to this story
This article first appeared at MMA Fighting – All Posts
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