Tony Ferguson has won eight in a row with six performance bonuses during that stretch but he’ll have to win at least one more before he earns a title shot.
Ferguson is set to take on former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of the TUF Latin America 3 Finale Nov. 5 at Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City, the UFC announced early Wednesday.
Dos Anjos is looking to rebound from his July TKO defeat to Eddie Alvarez. The Brazilian had won five in a row and 10 of 11 prior to losing his belt. The 31-year-old dominated Anthony Pettis last March to win the title and dispatched of Donald Cerrone in 66 seconds on Dec. 19 in his first defence.
Meanwhile, Ferguson (21-3) is currently on the longest winning streak in the 155-pound division and coming off a thrilling Fight of the Night submission victory over UFC newcomer Lando Vannata last month. He also holds wins over Edson Barboza, Josh Thomson and Gleison Tibau.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzvgFJpdVDY
It is believed Alvarez’s first title defence will be against Khabib Nurmagomedov sometime later this year though nothing is official.
In other UFC news…
— Rising contenders Beneil Dariush and Rashid Magomedov will meet on the Nov. 5 card in Mexico. Indiscutido.com’s Rodrigo Del Campo was first to report the lightweight tilt. Dariush is the No. 11-ranked lightweight contender looking to build off his knockout of James Vick in June. Magomedov is ranked 15th and unbeaten in the UFC. He handed Brazilian Gilbert Burns his first professional loss in his last outing in November.
— Dustin Poirier, the No. 8 lightweight contender, is scheduled to headline the UFC’s Sept. 17 Fight Night event in Hidalgo, Texas against No. 10-ranked Michael Johnson. Poirier is 4-0 with three finishes since moving back up from the featherweight division. Johnson hasn’t fought since losing a unanimous decision to Nate Diaz in December.
— Other bouts officially added to the Texas card include: Uriah Hall vs. Derek Brunson, Evan Dunham vs. Abel Trujillo, Alejandro Perez vs. Manny Gamburyan, Roan Carneiro vs. Kenny Robertson, Gabriel Benitez vs. Sam Sicilia, Islam Makhachev vs. Chris Wade, Augusto Montano vs. Belal Muhammad, Jose Quinonez vs. Joey Gomez, Erick Montano vs. Randy Brown, and Chas Skelly vs. Maximo Blanco.
— Former Bellator champion Will Brooks, fresh off a victory over Ross Pearson in his UFC debut last month, returns to action Oct. 1 against Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira at UFC Portland.
— The UFC announced Josh Burkman vs. Bobby Green, Louis Smolka vs. Sergio Pettis, Walt Harris vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov, Tamdan McCrory vs. Nate Marquardt, and Kelly Faszholz vs. Ketlen Vieira were also added to UFC Portland.
