Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
A potentially high-octane fight is on tap for UFC 248.
Two men coming off tough Fight of the Night defeats in their respective last outings will be facing each other in March.
MMA Junkie reported that featherweights Calvin Kattar and Jeremy Stephens have agreed to square off at UFC 248, although no official announcement has been made as of this writing. The main card airs live on pay-per-view, with prelims split between ESPN and UFC Fight Pass.
Kattar (20-4) most recently took on Zabit Magomedsharipov in the UFC Moscow main event this past November, losing a three-round unanimous decision in which he closed strongly. The Massachusetts native has racked up a 4-2 record inside the Octagon, with three of his wins coming by TKO, including against former title challenger Ricardo Lamas. The only other man to beat him in UFC competition is Renato Moicano back at UFC 223 in New York.
Stephens (28-17, 1 NC) is one of the more established veterans not just in the UFC’s featherweight division, but on the entire roster. “Lil’ Heathen” is without a win over his last four fights, which included two bouts against Yair Rodriguez; the first ended in a no-contest, and the immediate rematch saw Rodriguez take a decision. Stephens also suffered defeats against Zabit Magomedsharipov and Jose Aldo, with his last win coming by vicious KO vs. Josh Emmett in February of 2018.
UFC 248 takes place on March 7th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. While the card not yet have a main event, the co-main event is confirmed to be between strawweight champion Weili Zhang and former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.