Former Ultimate Fighter standout and current middleweight contender Uriah Hall will make his return to the Octagon at UFC on ESPN+ 16 on September 14 live on ESPN+ from Vancouver, Canada, when he squares off against submission specialist Antonio Carlos Junior, per a recent report by Brazilian news outlet Combate,
Hall, 34, is coming off a big come-from-behind knockout win over UFC newcomer Bevon Lewis this past December. However, the perennial contender has struggled to string together wins over the past couple of years, dropping soul-crushing knockout defeats to the likes of Paulo Costa, Gegard Mousasi, and Derek Brunson. Hall isn’t going to leapfrog to title contention with a win over Carlos Junior but a two-fight win streak will go a long way in setting the veteran up for a big 2020 campaign.
Carlos Junior, 29, just saw his five-fight UFC win streak snapped at the hands of rising middleweight contender Ian Heinisch back in May. The Brazilian finisher had stopped four of his previous five Octagon outings via submission but was unable to out-muscle Heinish on the ground and it cost him. “Shoe Face” remains one of the most underrated names at 185 pounds yet is capable of ending a fight at the drop of a dime. A victory over a well-known contender like Hall should do Carlos Junior some good in regaining momentum in a division he has called home for the past five years.
UFC on ESPN+ 16, which will take place inside a venue to be named, currently has no main event in place.
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