JACKSONVILLE, Fla. _ Mixed martial arts competition returns to VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena for UFC Fight Night, the second of three UFC cards set for Jacksonville this week.
A light heavyweight bout between Anthony Smith and Glover Teixeira is the featured contest.
Like last Saturday's UFC 249, Wednesday's fights, 11 in all, will be contested without fans at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena due to precautions against the coronavirus pandemic.
The Wednesday bouts are mostly lower-profile than the UFC 249 competition, which included a pair of title fights: Justin Gaethje beat Tony Ferguson in lightweight competition and Henry Cejudo defeated Dominick Cruz to defend his bantamweight belt.
Still, there are several significant matchups on the card.
The most prominent is the fight between Smith, the third-ranked contender in the classification, and Teixeira, ranked eighth, who have both had shots at the championship belt.
Smith, a 31-year-old fighting out of Denver, fought for the UFC championship in 2019 but lost to Jon Jones by unanimous decision. The 40-year-old Teixeira, from Brazil, also lost a title fight to Jones in 2014.
Light heavyweight Alexander Hernandez (11-2) also enters as the 15th-ranked contender for his bout with Drew Dober, while veterans Ben Rothwell and Ovince Saint-Preux meet in a heavyweight battle.
UFC is also scheduled to hold another set of fights Saturday night, also without fans at the arena.
