The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will host a third consecutive event at the Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, with UFC Fight Night 172. The main event of the PPV will feature a rematch between Deiveson Figueiredo and Joseph Benavidez for the vacant flyweight championship.
In December 2019, former UFC two-division champion Henry Cejudo had decided to drop the flyweight belt to focus on defending his bantamweight title. The championship was officially vacated towards the end of February 2020.
Since then, the belt hasn’t had any holder and #1 and #2 contenders in the division, Figueiredo and Benavidez, were favourites to fight for it. The pair had met earlier in February, with Figueiredo winning by second-round technical knockout (TKO).
However, the title remained vacant because the winner had failed to make the division’s weight limit. A new championship bout was then scheduled to take place after a couple of months. But due to the coronavirus pandemic, the clash was finalised for UFC Fight Night 172 in UAE.
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A week ago, Figueiredo tested positive for COVID-19, putting the title fight in doubt. But the Brazilian fighter cleared a second test and made his way to Abu Dhabi, where he had to undergo a few more tests and make the weight.
Hermansson vs Gastelum
The co-main encounter will pit #6 and #7 ranked middleweights, Jack Hermansson and Kelvin Gastelum, against each other. A win in this contest for either of them will push that person up the ladder in the stacked division.
Hermansson and Gastelum had lost their previous bouts against Jared Cannonier and Darren Till respectively. So both of them will be desperate for a victory on Sunday so that they can move a step closer to a future fight for the middleweight belt.
The event’s other bouts include a lightweight clash between Marc Diakiese and Rafael Fiziev, a women’s flyweight encounter featuring Ariane Lipski and Luana Carolina, and a flyweight contest between Alexandre Pantoja and Askar Askarov.
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Pantoja and Askarov are ranked #4 and #7 in the weight category respectively and the person coming out on top in this fight could face either #3 Brandon Moreno or the winner of the Figueiredo-Benavidez main event in the future.
- The event will be telecast live on July 19, Sunday, in India.
- It is taking place at the Flash Forum in Fight Island, Abu Dhabi.
- The event’s main card will begin at 5:30 AM IST (July 19).
- You can watch the bouts live on Sony TEN 2 and Sony TEN 3 in India.
- Sony LIV will provide live online streaming for the event.
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