The Review-Journal reported on Tuesday that seven new matchups are set for UFC 216 on October 7th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Lando Vannata will return to the cage in a lightweight matchup against Abel Trujillo. Vannatta (9-2) is coming off a unanimous-decision setback to David Teymur at UFC 209 in March. The loss dropped the Jackson/Winklejohn product to 1-2 in the UFC. Trujillo (15-7) is also coming off a loss earlier this year, as the Strikeforce veteran was submitted by James Vick at UFC Fight Night 104 in February.
Evan Dunham looks to push his winning streak to five straight as he faces Beneil Dariush. Dunham (18-6) has been sidelined by injuries and will compete for the first time since September 2016. The 35-year-old hasn’t lost a fight since a July 2014 setback to Edson Barboza. Dariush (14-3) also coincidentally heads into this matchup off a second-round TKO loss to Barboza at UFC Fight Night 106 in March. The Kings MMA standout has gone 8-3 inside the Octagon.
Former Bellator lightweight champion Will Brooks will battle Nik Lentz. Brooks (18-3) has dropped back-to-back fights after amassing a nine-fight win streak. The American Top Team standout has never lost three fights in a row in his career. Lentz (27-8-2) is coming off a unanimous-decision loss to Islam Makhachev, which snapped a two-fight win streak.
Also on the card is undefeated flyweight prospect Magomed Bibulatov, who will face former title challenger John Moraga. Bibulatov (14-0) is coming off a unanimous-decision victory over Jenel Lausa in his promotional debut at UFC 210. Moraga (17-6) snapped a three-fight losing streak in his last fight when he defeated Ashkan Mokhtarian by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 110 in June.
Brad Tavares looks for his third straight win when he battles Thales Leites. Tavares (15-4) is coming off a unanimous-decision victory over Elias Theodorou at The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale in July. Leites (27-7) has won two of his last three fights, including a unanimous-decision victory over Sam Alvey at UFC Fight Night 108 in April.
A heavyweight matchup has also been added which pits Mark Godbeer against Walt Harris while flyweights Marco Beltran and Matt Schnell will go to war as well.
Here’s an updated look at the card…
Stipe Miocic vs. Cain Velasquez(not confirmed by UFC yet)
Abel Trujillo vs. Lando Vannata
Beneil Dariush vs. Evan Dunham
Will Brooks vs. Nik Lentz
Thales Leites vs. Brad Tavares
John Moraga vs. Magomed Bibulatov
Matt Schnell vs. Marco Beltran
Walt Harris vs. Mark Godbeer
