Former UFC champions will square off when the promotion returns to China this November.
First reported by Leo Guimaraes on X, Petr Yan will meet Deiveson Figueiredo on Saturday, November 23 inside the Galaxy Arena in Macau, China. Currently, ‘No Mercy’ is holding things down as the No. 3 ranked contender in the bantamweight division. At the same time, Figueiredo continues to inch his way up the ladder and is standing strong at No. 5.
The bout could very well act as a potential title eliminator with the winner facing newly minted 135-pound titleholder Merab Dvalishvili — once ‘The Machine’ takes care of some business with Umar Nurmagomedov.
After a year-long layoff, Yan returned to the Octagon at UFC 299 and earned a decisive unanimous decision victory over Song Yadong, snapping a three-fight losing skid in the process. Before that, the former bantamweight champion had suffered back-to-back split decision losses against Aljmain Sterling and Sean O’Malley before being manhandled by Dvalishvili in March 2023.
Figueiredo, on the other hand, has found immense success in the bantamweight division after moving up following his iconic quadrilogy with former flyweight king Brandon Moreno. Since making his debut at 135, ‘Deus da Guerra’ has bested Rob Font and Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera via decision while adding a second-round submission victory over Cody Garbrandt to his resume.
Reinier de Ridder books his UFC debut against gerald meerschaert
After news broke that former two-division ONE Championship titleholder Reinier de Ridder had signed with the UFC, we now know who ‘The Dutch Knight’ will face in his Octagon debut.
De Ridder’s tenure with the promotion will officially begin on Saturday, November 9 when he squares off with middleweight mainstay Gerald Meerschaert at UFC Vegas 100.
In August, Meerschaert became the leader for most finishes in UFC middleweight history in August after submitting Edmen Shahbazyan. It was Meerschaert’s 12th finish at 185 pounds. All 12 of his wins have come by way of submission or knockout inside the Octagon.
Not to be outdone, de Ridder has finished 15 of his 17 wins, including 12 submission and three by way of KO. The Dutch Knight’ earned back-to-back wins against Aung La N Sang under the ONE Championship banner to capture both the ONE middleweight and light heavyweight championships.
He successfully defended the belt against former ONE titleholder Vitaly Bigdash before surrendering his gold in two straight losses against Russian juggernaut Anatoly Malykhin.
