UFC 267 is officially set for Oct. 30 in Abu Dhabi and will feature two title fights at the top of the card, the organization announced.
Light-heavyweight titleholder Jan Blachowicz will defend his belt against Glover Teixeira in the main event, while a bantamweight championship rematch between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan serves as the co-main event.
Blachowicz (28-8) is coming off a unanimous decision win over middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who moved up a division in an attempt to get a second title, in March at UFC 259 to extend his current winning streak to five in a row.
Teixeira (32-7) has also won five straight, including back-to-back stoppage victories in 2020 over former title challengers Thiago Santos and Anthony Smith. The 41-year-old would become the oldest 205-pound champion since Randy Couture if he beats Blachowicz.
Two title bouts set to headline our return to Abu Dhabi! #UFC267
@JanBlachowicz vs @GloverTeixeira
@FunkmasterMMA vs @PetrYanUFC[ @VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi | https://t.co/d9jOMvuRxJ ] pic.twitter.com/1gmb1ELdyc
— UFC (@ufc) August 25, 2021
Sterling (20-3) won his title via disqualification at UFC 259 when then-champion Yan (15-2) landed an illegal strike late in the fourth round of a fight Yan was winning and in control of. Sterling was unable to continue and the referee ruled it a DQ.
The pair of 135-pounders had several heated verbal and social media exchanges leading up to their first tilt and that has continued in the leadup to the rematch.
Blachowicz opened as a -190 betting favourite over the +165 Teixeira and Yan opened as a heavy -250 favourite over Sterling who opened at +210.
Other bouts reportedly expected to take place at UFC 267 include:
— Islam Makhachev vs. Rafael dos Anjos
— Li Jingliang vs. Khamzat Chimaev
— Volkan Oezdemir vs. Magomed Ankalaev
— Amanda Ribas vs. Virna Jandiroba
— Michał Oleksiejczuk vs. Shamil Gamzatov
— Walt Harris vs. Tai Tuivasa
— Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Allan Nascimento
— Alexander Volkov vs. Marcin Tybura
— Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Ricardo Ramos
— Makwan Amirkhani vs. Tristan Connelly
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