Former UFC lightweight champion and current featherweight contender Frankie Edgar will return to action at UFC 162 against rising star Charles Oliveira, the UFC announced.
Edgar (15-4-1) is coming off a unanimous decision loss in his 145-pound debut to Jose Aldo in the main event at UFC 156 in February.
The New Jersey native had lost once in his first 17 professional fights, but is currently riding a three-fight losing streak and has just one win in his last five bouts. Prior to UFC 156, Edgar lost two straight fights to Benson Henderson after knocking out and tying Gray Maynard in consecutive bouts.
Edgar’s matchup with Oliveira will be a three-round affair, something that the former champ is not accustomed to. He has competed in seven consecutive title fights.
Earlier in March, Edgar told UFC Central Radio following his loss to Aldo that he wanted his next fight to be a five-round main event since he has been training for five-round fights ever since he got his first title shot back in 2010 against then-champ BJ Penn.
“It’s something I’ve been doing for almost three full years, training for five-round fights. That’s still my goal, is to fight for that title and keep my training camps the same,” Edgar said. “We don’t want to get sidetracked and say we’re just a regular guy on the card, we want to be the main event.”
Oliveira (16-3, 1 NC) was knocked out by Cub Swanson at UFC 152 in Toronto in September in his last outing.
UFC 162, which takes place on July 6 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is headlined by a middleweight title matchup between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman.
Swanson vs. Siver
Another quality featherweight matchup was added to UFC 162 as Swanson will meet Dennis Siver.
Swanson (19-5) is riding a four-fight win streak and edged Dustin Poirier in February by decision, while Siver (21-8) beat Nam Phan in December to improve to 2-0 as a featherweight.
The card is shaping up to be a showcase of the featherweight division. In addition to Swanson-Siver and Edgar-Oliveira, the “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung meets Ricardo Lamas.
Former WEC champ Bowles returns at UFC 160
Former World Extreme Cagefighting bantamweight Brian Bowles is set to compete in the UFC for the first time since a UFC 139 loss to Urijah Faber in November 2011.
Bowles (10-2) will fight George Roop (13-9-1) who recently won a decision over Reuben Duran at UFC 158 in Montreal.
Also at UFC 160, featherweights Dennis Bermudez and Max Holloway will square off.
In other news, the UFC signed unbeaten Chinese bantamweight Jumabieke Tuerxun.
