A key 135-pound matchup is the latest addition to the UFC’s final pay-per-view of the year.
UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber (35-10 MMA, 11-6 UFC) will continue his comeback and take on a real challenge against one of the sport’s up-and-comers when he meets undefeated bantamweight contender Petr Yan (13-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) at UFC 245.
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie after an initial report by ESPN. The person asked to remain anonymous as the fight has yet to be officially announced.
UFC 245 takes place Dec. 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card will stream on pay-per-view after prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
In September, the two fighters had a brief back-and-forth on Twitter after Yan’s manager, Daniel Rubenstein, said Faber had “re-retired.”
Shortly thereafter, Faber responded with an Instagram video telling Rubenstein to keep his name out of his mouth.
Initially, Yan had his sights set on fellow contender Aljamain Sterling. Both fighters are on win streaks, seemingly close to a title shot. The UFC showed interest in matching Sterling up with Frankie Edgar instead, but the former could not receive proper medical clearance to fight in New York state.
Faber made a successful return to MMA in July, after nearly three years away from professional competition. A moderate underdog, the former WEC featherweight champion pulled off the upset when he TKO’d rising bantamweight contender Ricky Simon in just 46 seconds in Faber’s hometown of Sacramento, Calif.
The latest UFC 245 lineup includes:
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- Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington – for welterweight title
- Max Holloway vs. Alexander Volkanovski – for featherweight title
- Amanda Nunes vs. Germaine de Randamie – for women’s bantamweight title
- Jose Aldo vs. Marlon Moraes
- Urijah Faber vs. Petr Yan
- Matt Brown vs. Ben Saunders
- Jessica Eye vs. Viviane Araujo
- Kai Kara-France vs. Brandon Moreno
- Oskar Piechota vs. Punahele Soriano
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