Mauricio Rua and Paul Craig are running it back.
At UFC 255, Rua (27-11-1 MMA, 11-9-1 UFC) and Craig (13-4-1 MMA, 5-4-1 UFC) will square off for the second time. The event is expected to take place Nov. 21 at a location and venue to be determined.
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie on Tuesday but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. ESPN was the first to report the news.
The first matchup between Rua and Craig took place in November 2019. Serving as the co-main event of UFC on ESPN+ 22 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The two fighters fought the full 15 minutes in the hopes of determining a winner. However, after the fight got to the judges’ scorecards, it was declared a split draw.
Since their first meeting, each fighter has gone his next fight. Both fighters competed on July 25 in Abu Dhabi. Craig defeated Gadzhimurad Antigulov by first-round submission before Rua defeated Antonio Rogerio Nogueira by split decision.
With the addition, the UFC 255 lineup includes:
- Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Cody Garbrandt – for the UFC flyweight title
- Valentina Shevchenko vs. Jennifer Maia – for the UFC women’s flyweight title
- Brandon Moreno vs. Alex Perez
- Ariane Lipski vs. Antonina Shevchenko
- Paul Craig vs. Mauricio Rua
