Welterweight Siyar Bahadurzada (20-4-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) meets Paulo Thiago (14-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) at April's UFC on FUEL TV 2 event in Sweden.
MMAjunkie.com (
UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com) today confirmed the booking with event sources. UFC officials first confirmed the matchup with Swedish site mmanytt.se.
UFC on FUEL TV 2 takes place April 14 at Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. The entire card is expected to air on the FOX-owned FUEL TV.
Bahadurzada makes his UFC debut. "The Great" was expected to make his promotional debut against Erick Silva at next week's UFC 142 event before an injury forced Bahadurzada to withdraw from the card. Bahadurzada most recently fought this past May, when he defeated teammate Tommy Depret in the finals of United Glory's World Series tournament.
Bahadurzada's current six-fight win streak includes knockouts of notables John Alessio and Derrick Noble, among others.
Meanwhile, Thiago was also expected to compete at UFC 142 before an injury forced him out of a planned contest with Mike Pyle. Thiago most recently appeared at the UFC's long-awaited return to Brazil at UFC 134. To deafening fanfare, Thiago, a full-time police officer with a special anti-terrorist unit of the Brazilian police, outpointed David Mitchell. The win halted a two-fight skid for the fighter.
