Edson Barboza (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
The Ultimate Fighting Championship announced another match for this July’s upcoming UFC 162 event between lightweights Edson ‘Junior’ Barboza (11-1) and John ‘The Bull’ Makdessi (11-2).
Canadian officials with the promotion Tweeted (@UFC_CA) the news on Friday afternoon.
– The Bull @JohnMakdessiMMA is back! He will face @EdsonBarbozaJR in a lightweight battle on July 6 at #UFC162 in Las Vegas
UFC 162: Silva vs. Weidman is expected to take place on July 6, 2013 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event will feature a middleweight title bout between division kingpin Anderson Silva nd challenger Chris Weidman.
Barboza is 1-1 in his last two and 5-1 overall in the Octagon. ‘Junior’ had his last fight in January in Brazil, picking up a submission (punches) stoppage over countryman Lucas Martins at the UFC on FX 7 event. Prior to that Barboza suffered his first pro-loss, losing to former WEC champ Jamie Varner by TKO at UFC 146.
‘The Bull’ has bounced back from back-to-back losses by winning two in a row fighting in his home of Montreal. Makdessi won decisions over Daron Cruickshank at UFC 158 and over Sam Stout at UFC 154. His losses came at the hands of Anthony Njokuani, by decision at UFC 145, and to Dennis Hallman, by decision at UFC 140.