Ilir Latifi will have his hands full in his UFC heavyweight debut.
A former member of the light heavyweight ranks, Latifi (14-7 MMA, 7-5 UFC) moves to the 265-pound weight class, where he is expected take on Derrick Lewis on Feb. 8.
A person with knowledge confirmed that the booking is in the works to MMA Junkie on Monday after an initial report by ESPN. The event currently doesn’t have a set location, but is targeted for Houston.
Latifi’s ascent to heavyweight comes on the heels of back-to-back losses at light heavyweight. After winning consecutive fights against Tyson Pedro and Ovince Saint Preux, Sweden’s Latifi lost an unanimous decision to Corey Anderson at UFC 232 in December 2018.
In his most recent outing at UFC on ESPN+ 14 in August, Latifi was finished by Volkan Oezdemir by second-round stoppage due to strikes.
Feb. 8 will mark a three-month turnaround for Lewis (22-7 MMA, 13-5 UFC) who just competed at UFC 244 on Nov. 2. In a back-and-forth brawl, Lewis defeated Bulgarian heavyweight Blagoy Ivanov by unanimous decision.
The victory at Madison Square Garden snapped a two-fight skid for the American, who had lost fights against Junior Dos Santos and Daniel Cormier.
Check out the current lineup for the UFC’s Feb. 8 event below:
- Mirsad Bektic vs. Dan Ige
- Ovince Saint Preux vs. Ryan Spann
- Andrea Lee vs. Lauren Murphy
- Ilir Latifi vs. Derrick Lewis
