The first female strawweight fighters to win the inside the Octagon will collide in December.
Claudia Gadelha and Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who scored unanimous decision victories in their first appearances inside under the UFC banner, are set to battle at the UFC on FOX 13 card in Phoenix on Dec. 13. MMAFighting.com confirmed the match-up with sources close to the situation following a report from polish website MMA News.
Unbeaten in MMA, Gadelha improved to 12-0 with a win over Tina Lähdemäki at UFC Fight Night 45 in July. Jedrzejczyk, who is also undefeated in MMA with a 7-0 professional record, scored a unanimous decision victory over Juliana Lima in her first bout inside the Octagon at UFC on FOX 12. The winner could earn a shot at the UFC gold next.
A week later, Tim Means will make a trip to Brazil to battle The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 finalist Marcio Alexandre Jr., who will cut down from middleweight to welterweight, at UFC Fight Night 58, the promotion announced Friday.
Means (21-6-1) enters the bout coming off a win over former Shooto welterweight champion Hernani Perpetuo in July. “Lyoto” (12-1) suffered the first loss of his professional career at TUF: Brazil 3 middleweight final, tapping to Warlley Alves in a middleweight bout.
UFC Fight Night 58 takes place in Barueri, Brazil, on Dec. 20, and is headlined by Lyoto Machida vs. C.B. Dollaway.
UFC also announced a new match-up for UFC 183. Brazilian middleweight Thiago Santos will take on Andy Enz in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan. 13.
Santos (9-3) looks to get back on track following a decision loss to Uriah Hall, while Enz (7-2) tries to secure his first win under the UFC banner after back-to-back losses to Clint Hester and Marcelo Guimaraes.