A pivotal welterweight encounter between Gilbert Burns and Stephen Thompson is now official.
It was reported earlier this month that the pair had agreed to a fight at the upcoming UFC 264 pay-per-view event taking place July 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
A couple of weeks have passed since and it’s now official as the UFC announced the matchup on Wednesday.
The jiu jitsu master meets the karate specialist
#UFC264 pic.twitter.com/6Ayz2k1JQF
— UFC (@ufc) April 28, 2021
Burns is coming off a third-round TKO defeat to Kamaru Usman in their welterweight title fight at UFC 258 back in February. He will be looking to rebound with a big win though he will likely need a few more before he can get another crack at the title.
Thompson, meanwhile, is on a two-fight winning streak following impressive wins over Vicente Luque and Geoff Neal. A win for the former title challenger against Burns would likely be enough to get him the next 170-pound shot after Colby Covington. That is, if the winner of the Leon Edwards vs. Nate Diaz fight at UFC 262 doesn’t have a say in the matter.
UFC 264 will be headlined by a highly-anticipated trilogy fight between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor.
Who do you have winning this matchup?