A middleweight title fight between Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort will headline UFC 173 on May 24 in Las Vegas.
The UFC made the announcement official Saturday during UFC 169.
Sonnen vs Silva named UFC 173 co-main event
Weidman (11-0) is coming off back-to-back wins over Anderson Silva. The 29-year-old Baldwin, N.Y., native also has wins over Demian Maia, Mark Munoz and Uriah Hall since making his MMA debut in 2009.
Belfort (24-10) is on one of the most impressive streaks of his 17-year MMA career. In his last three fights he’s earned head-kick knockouts of Dan Henderson, Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping. This will be Belfort’s second middleweight title shot since returning to the UFC in 2009. He was knocked out by Silva at UFC 126; he also lost a light-heavyweight title bout to Jon Jones at UFC 152.
This will be the first time Belfort has competed in the United States since a UFC 133 win over Yoshihiro Akiyama in 2011.
