Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight champion Johny Hendricks will continue his quest for success at 185 pounds, recently accepting a fight against undefeated Brazilian banger Paulo Henrique Costa.
They’ll do the deed at the upcoming UFC 217 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Nov. 4, 2017, according to a report from Combate, scheduled for the historic Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Hendricks (18-7) was expected to find a new lease on his combat sports life after abandoning the rough waters at 170 pounds. Unfortunately, whatever issues plagued him at welterweight continue to haunt him in the higher division.
“Bigg Rigg” missed weight for UFC Fight Night 112, then got turned inside out by veteran “Barbarian” Tim Boetsch, the fourth loss in five attempt for the rapidly-fading bearded brawler.
Costa (10-0) put the division on notice with his blistering, first-round technical knockout win over Gareth McLellan at UFC Fight Night 106, then followed it up with another violent finish over Oluwale Bamgbose just three months later.
“Borrachinha” has 10 finishes in 10 wins.
UFC 217 is expected to be headlined by the five-round middleweight title fight pitting reigning champion Michael Bisping opposite former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more UFC 217 fight card announcements in the coming weeks.