Lentz vs. Narimani booked for UFC Raleigh

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Nik Lentz and Nad Narimani, both coming off losses, will meet at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. dos Santos. Veteran featherweight Nik Lentz is returning to the Octagon at the end of the month. At UFC Ra…

MMA: UFC 229-Maynard vs Lentz

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Nik Lentz and Nad Narimani, both coming off losses, will meet at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. dos Santos.

Veteran featherweight Nik Lentz is returning to the Octagon at the end of the month. At UFC Raleigh, which is scheduled for January 25th, he’s booked to meet former Cage Warriors champ Nad Narimani.

The UFC announced the 145 lb match-up via twitter on Friday.

Both Lentz and Narimani are coming off of losses. The 35-year-old Lentz will be hoping to bounce back from a TKO loss to Charles Oliveira, which came at UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Lee last May.

The TKO loss to Oliveira was the first time Lentz had been stopped by TKO since he faced Evan Dunham in 2012. That loss went down as a doctor’s stoppage. The only other TKO loss of Lentz’s career was also a doctor’s stoppage, all the way back in 2007. Before coming unstuck versus Do Bronx, Lentz had back-to-back wins over Scott Holtzman and Gray Maynard.

Narimani also lost by TKO last time out. He was beaten by Mike Grundy at UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masivdal in London. The British fighter had been on a five-fight winning streak up until that point. That streak included his debut and sophomore outings in the UFC; where he defeated Anderson dos Santos and Khalid Taha. The 32-year-old signed with ZUFFA in 2018 after beating Paddy Pimblett for the Cage Warriors featherweight crown.

UFC Raleigh, or UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. dos Santos, is scheduled for the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC. The headlining bout pits together heavyweights Curtis Blaydes and Junior dos Santos. The card also includes Rafael dos Anjos vs. Michael Chiesa (welterweight) and Josh Emmet vs. Arnold Allen (featherweight).