Hector Lombard and Jake Shields are set to meet at UFC 171 in a battle of welterweight contenders, the UFC announced.
Both fighters are former middleweight champions in other organizations—Lombard went unbeaten in Bellator MMA, while Shields had an unblemished record in the defunct Strikeforce.
Lombard (33-4-1, 1 NC) is looking to build off the momentum he gained from a blistering knockout win in his 170-pound debut against Nate Marquardt at UFC 166 in October. The Cuban-Australian is an Olympic-level judoka with 20 first-round finishes.
Shields (29–6–1 1 NC) is coming off back-to-back split decision wins over Demian Maia and Tyron Woodley. The American holds career wins over the likes of Carlos Condit, Dan Henderson, Robbie Lawler, Yushin Okami and Hayato Sakurai.
UFC 171 takes place March 15 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas and will be headlined by a light-heavyweight title bout between Jones Jones and Glover Teixeira.