Top bantamweight contenders Deiveson Figueiredo and Cory Sandhagen will look to put their names back in the title mix in May.
After losing arguable bantamweight title eliminators in their most recent octagon appearances, former flyweight champ Figueiredo (24-4-1 MMA, 13-4-1 UFC) will take on Sandhagen (17-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in a UFC Fight Night main event on May 3 in Des Moines, Iowa (ESPN+) pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+).
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie on Thursday following an initial report from MMA reporter Leonardo Guimarães. The person requested anonymity because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Figueiredo, the former two-time UFC flyweight champion, most recently competed in November when he lost a unanimous decision to Petr Yan in the UFC Fight Night 248 main event. It was his first defeat since moving up to 135 pounds.
Sandhagen, meanwhile, will try to rebound from his UFC on ABC 7 main event loss to Umar Nurmagomedov in August.
Below is the updated UFC Des Moines lineup:
- Cory Sandhagen vs. Deiveson Figueiredo
- Yana Santos vs. Miesha Tate
- Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Daniel Rodriguez
- Gillian Robertson vs. Marina Rodriguez
- Jeong Yeong Lee vs. Trevor Peek
- Serhiy Sidey vs. Cameron Smotherman
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