Tyron Woodley is set to defend his welterweight title against Kamaru Usman at UFC 235 in March.
The UFC made the matchup official Tuesday.
'The Chosen One' meets 'The Nigerian Nightmare'
@TWooodley faces @USMAN84kg in the co-main slot of #UFC235! pic.twitter.com/Mc2VJROqcy
— UFC (@ufc) January 8, 2019
Woodley (19–3–1) re-established his dominance atop the 170-pound division with a one-sided beatdown of Darren Till in September at UFC 228 following a 13-month layoff. It was his third consecutive successful title defence.
Usman (14-1) has been on a roll since winning The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians welterweight tournament in 2015. He has gone 9-0 in the UFC, including wins over former lightweight champion Rafael dos Santos and two-time title challenger Demian Maia, en route to earning a title shot.
The UFC announced this bout as the co-main event for what is shaping up to be a rather stacked card.
A light-heavyweight championship fight between Jon Jones and Anthony Smith is expected to headline the event, which takes place March 2 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but that fight has not yet been made official.
Robbie Lawler vs. Ben Askren, Jeremy Stephens vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov, Holly Holm vs. Aspen Ladd, and Ovince Saint Preux vs. Misha Cirkunov are among the other contests currently slated for UFC 235.
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