Thomas Almeida’s next fight will be in his hometown.
The top prospect will meet Anthony Birchak at UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson 3 on Nov. 7 in Sao Paulo, the UFC confirmed Wednesday with MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz. The fight was first reported on Twitter by Front Row Brian.
Almeida (20-0) is a perfect 3-0 in the UFC and coming off a devastating, second-round knockout (flying knee) over Brad Pickett at UFC 189 in July. The Sao Paulo native, an electric bantamweight striker, has finished all but one person, Tim Gorman in November 2014, in his career. Almeida, 24, is one of the most talented up-and-coming fighters in all of MMA.
Birchak (12-2) is coming off an impressive first-round knockout of Joe Soto in June. Before that, he fell in his UFC debut to Ian Entwistle via first-round submission back in December. Overall, the 29-year-old has won six of his last seven fights.
UFC Fight Night 77 is headlined by a trilogy matchup between legends Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson. In the co-main event, light heavyweight contenders Glover Teixeira and Patrick Cummins will face off.