Darren Stewart will return to fight in his hometown at UFC London to take on Marvin Vettori in March.
The east Londoner is on a run of four wins in five fights, coming off the back of an impressive win over the previously undefeated Deron Winn in Boston in October.
Stewart (11-4) will come up against another middleweight on an impressive run in Vettori with the Italian on a two-fight winning streak with just one loss in his last five – that coming against current middleweight king Israel Adesanya.
Both men are vying for a place in the top 15 of the hugely competitive 185lbs division and Stewart hopes victory can propel him towards that in 2020.
“Hopefully a win will get me that ranking,” Stewart told Standard Sport. “Right now I just have to focus on winning and getting close as possible and pushing for that belt. People might think it’s too early to talk about it but that’s got to be the aim.
“He [Vettori] is on a good winning streak, I’m on a good winning streak, and this fight here is a chance for both of us to show what we are all about. I can’t wait for it.”
The 21 March show at the O2 Arena will mark Stewart’s first fight back home in London since 2017.
The 28-year-old joins fellow English fighter Molly McCann on the card, with the flyweight hoping to secure an overdue ranked position in her division against Ashlee Evans-Smith.
UFC president Dana White also remains hopeful of booking two huge headline fights in Leon Edwards vs Tyron Woodley and Darren Till vs Jack Hermansson.
