Outside Source
Former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will lock horns with Jimmie Rivera at UFC 219 on Dec. 30.
The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the pairing on Wednesday. Additionally, two other bouts were announced for the card: Cynthia Calvillo vs. Carla Esparza at strawweight and Louis Smolka vs. Matheus Nicolau Pereira at flyweight. UFC 219 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and airs on pay-per-view.
Cruz hasn’t competed since losing the bantamweight strap to Cody Garbrandt at UFC 207 last December. That snapped a 13-fight winning streak for “The Dominator,” who had regained the title with a win over T.J. Dillashaw in January 2016 after vacating the belt due to injury inactivity.
Rivera, meanwhile, is on a 20-bout winning streak that includes five consecutive victories in the Octagon. Most recently, the Team Tiger Schulmann representative garnered a unanimous decision triumph over Thomas Almeida at UFC on Fox 25 on July 22.
Calvillo owns a 6-0 professional record that includes wins over Joanne Calderwood, Pearl Gonzalez and Amanda Bobby Cooper in the UFC. Esparza, the promotion’s inaugural strawweight champ, earned a unanimous verdict against Maryna Moroz in her last outing at UFC Fight Night 112.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
