The announcements just keep rolling in regarding UFC 262, as a bout between two ranked middleweights has been added to the card when Jack Hermansson faces Edmen Shahbazyan.
The LA Times was the first to report the addition of this middleweight bout between Hermansson and Shahbazyan on Thursday. The working belief at the moment is that this event will be headlined by Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler for the vacant lightweight championship. That bout has been made official, but there is no confirmed word if it will serve as the main event.
The UFC 262 lineup is beginning to look like a potentially stacked card, so there could be more surprises to come. It was also announced shortly ago that the event will be held in Houston, Texas with a capacity crowd allowed in attendance.
Jack Hermansson is ranked #6 in the world and is an 11-year veteran of the sport. He will be looking to re-enter the top 5 of the division with a win here and prove that he is still hot on the trails of the top fighters in the division. Hermansson has had some stumbled on this path thus far, having lost two of his last three fights. But even in a losing effort, Hermansson has been known to put on a show for fans, most recently in his Fight of the Night loss to Marvin Vettori last December.
Edmen Shahbazyan will have an opportunity to advance deep into the top 10 should he defeat Hermansson. Shahbazyan is only 23 years old and is regarded as one of the brightest prospects in the promotion, let alone the UFC. It wasn’t until his most recent fight against Derek Brunson that he ever even tasted defeat. Despite the loss, Shahbazyan will have an even better opportunity by facing an opponent in #6-ranked Hermansson who is ranked higher than Brunson was at the time of his fight against Shahbazyan last August.
With the addition of this high-level middleweight contest, the updated UFC 262 lineup is as follows:
UFC Lightweight Championship Bout (Vacant): Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler
Tony Ferguson vs. Beneil Dariush
Jack Hermansson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
Edson Barboza vs. Shane Burgos
Viviane Araujo vs. Katlyn Chookagian
Alex Perez vs. Matt Schnell
Andrea Lee vs. Antonina Shevchenko
Priscila Cachoeira vs. Gina Mazany
Jamie Pickett vs. Jordan Wright
Keep it locked right here on MMANews.com for additional updates on the upcoming UFC 262 card!
