Two heavy hitters are set to collide inside the Octagon.
Coming off impressive wins under the UFC banner, John Lineker and Ali Bagautinov will face off on Feb. 1 in Newark, New Jersey, to see who moves closer to a shot at the flyweight title with a win at UFC 169.
MMAFighting.com confirmed the bout with sources close to the situation. MMA Boxing first reported the news.
Lineker (23-6) enters the cage riding a four-fight win streak with three consecutive knockout victories, but failed to make weight in his past two appearances. The Brazilian already saw improvements since he started working with Mike Dolce, and expects a shot at the title with another win in the UFC.
Undefeated over the last ten fights, Dagestani flyweight Bagautinov (12-2) stopped Marcos Vinicius in his UFC debut, and returned to the cage in less than three months later to defeat Tim Elliott via unanimous decision, at UFC 167.
UFC 169 takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and will be headlined by two championship fights, Dominick Cruz vs. Renan Barao and Jose Aldo vs. Ricardo Lamas.