Rafael dos Anjos is set to defend his lightweight title against Eddie Alvarez July 7 in Las Vegas, the UFC announced Friday.
The five-round bout will take place during the promotion’s fifth annual UFC International Fight Week.
This will be the second title fight to air exclusively on UFC Fight Pass, the organization’s digital subscription service. Joanna Jedrzejczyk defended her strawweight championship against Jessica Penne last June on Fight Pass.
Dos Anjos (25-7) has won five straight and 10 of his last 11 fights as he has established himself as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. The 31-year-old Brazilian dominated Anthony Pettis last March to win the title and dispatched of Donald Cerrone in 66 seconds on Dec. 19 in his first title defence. He was scheduled to fight Conor McGregor at UFC 196 last month but withdrew from the fight after breaking his foot during a sparring session.
Alvarez (27-4) is coming off back-to-back wins over Pettis and Gilbert Melendez. The 32-year-old could become the first fighter to win both a Bellator title and UFC title. Alvarez was Bellator’s first lightweight champion and went 9-1 in the promotion before signing with the UFC in 2014.
No other fights have been added to this card.
Dan Henderson to face Hector Lombard at UFC 199
Dan Henderson was supposed to fight Lyoto Machida at UFC Tampa, but that bout was removed from the event after Machida admitted to using a banned substance. The UFC promised to book Henderson a new fight as soon as possible and it appears as though he’ll compete in June. According to the MMA legend, he’ll fight Hector Lombard at UFC 199.
A strawweight tilt between Jessica Penne and Jessica Andrade has also been added to the event, per the Los Angeles Daily News.
Fight Pass adds Cage Warriors to video library
The UFC announced Friday it secured a multi-year agreement with Cage Warriors Fighting Championship. The UK-based MMA promotion joins Invicta FC, GLORY SuperFight Series, Pancrase, SHOOTO Brazil, Brace MMA, Eddie Bravo Invitational, Titan FC and Victory FC as live-event offers on Fight Pass.
“We are thrilled to add Cage Warriors to UFC Fight Pass’ ever-growing combat sports library,” UFC senior vice president and Fight Pass general manager Eric Winter said in a press release. “Cage Warriors has long been a staple of European and Middle Eastern MMA and now adds a new layer to UFC FIGHT PASS’ incredible lineup.”
Winter told Sportsnet.ca MMA contributor James Lynch last week he hoped to double the video assets in their library by the end of 2016.
