An interesting and unexpected light heavyweight matchup will headline UFC on ESPN+ 22 on Nov. 16.
Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo Souza will make the move up to 205 pounds, where he’ll face one of the division’s hottest competitors in Jan Blachowicz. It will serve as the main event for a card which will take place at Ginasio do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and stream entirely on ESPN+.
MMA Junkie confirmed an initial Tuesday report by ESPN.
Souza (26-7 MMA, 9-4 UFC) is looking for a fresh start after a run in which he won post-fight bonuses in three of his past four fights, but was only victorious in two of them. His most recent result was a unanimous-decision loss to short-notice replacement Jack Hermansson in the main event of UFC on ESPN+ 6 in Sunrise, Fla.
Blachowicz (24-8 MMA, 7-4 UFC), meanwhile, is coming off the biggest win over his UFC career, one which coincidentally came at the expense of another former Strikeforce middleweight titleholder. The Poland native knocked out Luke Rockhold in the second round of their UFC 239 bout in Las Vegas on July 6, which marked the fifth victory in his past six fights.
Several bouts of note have already been named for the card, including Antonio Arroyo vs. Kevin Holland and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Trevor Smith.
