Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is headed back to Fortaleza, Brazil, on Feb. 2 for a Fight Night event, per MMA Fighting’s confirmation of an original report by Combate.
While UFC has yet to officially announce the event, UFC executive David Shaw revealed to reporters last month after UFC Sao Paulo that the promotion is planning on hosting three shows in Brazil in 2019, one of which will take place on pay-per-view (PPV).
The last time UFC landed in Fortaleza it was for UFC Fight Night 106 back in 2017, which featured a main event middleweight clash between former UFC champion Vitor Belfort and young contender Kelvin Gastelum. Gastelum originally defeated “Phenom” via TKO before a failed drug test for marijuana metabolites overturned his knockout win to a no contest. That also happened to be the only time Belfort competed in front of a Fortaleza crowd.
Another memorable Fortaleza stopover for the promotion came at UFC on Fuel TV 10 back in 2013. That event was headlined by TUF Brazil coaches Fabricio Werdum and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Werdum ended up submitting the great “Minotauro” via second-round arm bar in their anticipated rematch.
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