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A pair of hard-hitting lightweights are on a collision course for UFC 249, as MMA Junkie is reporting that Alexander Hernandez and Islam Makhachev are in talks to throw down on April 18, 2020 inside Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Hernandez is coming off a unanimous decision win over Francisco Trinaldo at UFC on ESPN 4 last July in San Antonio, Texas. Prior to that, “The Great” suffered a technical knockout loss to Donald Cerrone, putting an end to his eight-fight win streak (see it again here).
Makhachev, meanwhile, has been on quite a run since making his Octagon debut back in 2015, winning seven of his first eight fights including his last six in a row. During that time, Islam has picked up big wins over Nik Lentz, Gleison Tibau and most recently defeated Davi Ramos at UFC 242.
A fight between Kevin Lee and Makhachev had been rumored for some time, but after Lee was booked to face Charles Oliveira at UFC Fight Night 170 on May 14, Islam had to look elsewhere for a fight. And he got a nice one for his patience, as Hernandez is as tough as they come and is determined to get his momentum going again after getting wrangled by “Cowboy.”
UFC 249 is set to feature a title fight between lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and top contender Tony Ferguson. In the co-main event, Rose Namajunas will rematch Jessica Andrade in a battle of former women’s strawweight champions.
To see the entire UFC 249: “Khabib vs Ferguson” fight card click here.