A bantamweight tilt has been added to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Fortaleza card set for next month.
The two 135-pounders sharing the Octagon will be former Bellator featherweight champion Joe Soto and Rani Yahya. The UFC made the announcement earlier today (Feb. 14).
After going on a three-fight losing streak to begin his UFC career, Soto finally earned a win inside the Octagon against Chris Beal. “One Bad Mofo” submitted Beal in the third round via rear-naked choke. He nabbed his second straight victory with another submission. This time it came in the first round against Marco Beltran.
Yahya is riding a four-fight winning streak. In that stretch he’s beaten Johnny Bedford, Masanori Kanehara, Matthew Lopez, and Michinori Tanaka. He hasn’t suffered a defeat since Nov. 2013.
The UFC Fight Night event in Fortaleza, Brazil will take place inside the Centro de Formacao Olimpica do Nordeste on March 11. The main event will be a middleweight clash between Kelvin Gastelum and former UFC light heavyweight title holder Vitor Belfort.
Serving as the co-main event will be a lightweight battle between No. 5 ranked 155-pounder Edson Barboza and No. 9 ranked Benil Dariush. Also on the card is going to be former UFC 205-pound ruler Mauricio “Shogun” Rua taking on Gian Villante.
