UFC CEO Dana White has announced two star-studded fights for a pair of upcoming UFC pay-per-views.
On Sunday night, White announced the official co-main event of UFC 299 in Miami featuring the return of Dustin Poirier squaring off against Benoit Saint-Denis in a five-round bout on March 9. He also announced a No. 1 contender fight between Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan for UFC 30 0 on April 13 in Las Vegas, with the winner taking on Islam Makhachev.
Poirier has scored some huge wins since 2021, including two TKO victories over Conor McGregor, but UFC 299 will be the first time he will step into the octagon since taking a knockout loss in July against Justin Gaethje. He's posted a 4-2 record since the turn of the decade.
His return will not be easy pickings, as he's going up against one of the fastest rising lightweights in the game.
Since suffering a loss in his UFC debut at UFC 267, Saint-Denis has posted a 5-0 record, winning three fights by knockout, and two by submission. His most recent fight at UFC 295 earned himself the Performance of the Night award for a vicious head-kick knockout over Matt Frevola.
The No. 1-ranked Oliveira was most-recently booked to fight Makachev for the Lightweight Championship at UFC 294 in October, but was replaced by Alexander Volkanovski after being unable to compete due to injuries. The Brazilian fighter has lost just one bout since 2018, becoming one of the more prolific and exciting lightweights to step foot in the UFC.
If he wants to get back to a title match, he will have to defeat the No. 4-ranked Tsarukyan, who's posted a 7-1 record since 2020, with his most recent victory being a knockout against Beneil Dariush in December.
Tsarukyan made his debut in the UFC opposite Makachev in 2019, where he took a loss to the current lightweight champion by decision.
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