Paul Craig is back to his original weight class.
Craig (17-9-1 MMA, 9-9-1 UFC) meets Rodolfo Bellato(12-2-1 MMA, 1-0-1 UFC) in a light heavyweight bout at a UFC Fight Night event, which takes place May 17 from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
A person with knowledge of the matchup informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. X user @MagicM_MMABets first reported the news.
Craig sought new life at middleweight after suffering back-to-back losses to Volkan Oezdemir and Johnny Walker. He was successful in his 185-pound debut when he stopped Andre Muniz by TKO in July 2023, but went onto lose three straight to Brendan Allen, Caio Borralho, and most recently Bo Nickal at UFC 309. He returns to the weight class which saw him finish former champion Jamahal Hill and current champion Magomed Ankalaev.
After making good in his second opportunity at Dana White’s Contender Series, Bellato finished Ihor Potieria by TKO in his UFC debut in December 2023. In his second octagon appearance, the 29-year-old Brazilian battled Jimmy Crute to a majority draw at UFC 312 in February.
With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for May 17 includes:
- Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev
- Shamil Gaziev vs. Serghei Spivac
- Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Mohammed Usman
- Tainara Lisboa vs. Luana Santos
- Carlos Hernandez vs. Hyun Sung Park
- Paul Craig vs. Rodolfo Bellato
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