William Knight stays at heavyweight; Devin Clark elevates to fight him at UFC on ESPN 34
William Knight will stick around at heavyweight at least a little bit longer.
At UFC on ESPN 34, Knight (11-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) will take on Devin Clark (12-6 MMA, 6-6 UFC) in a three-round heavyweight bout. The event takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN/ESPN+.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup informed MMA Junkie of the booking Thursday, but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Knight, 33, competed at heavyweight in his most recent outing, a split decision loss to Maxim Grishin at UFC 271 in February. However, the elevation up a division was a bit unexpected, as Knight missed the light heavyweight limit by 12 pounds. The bout was allowed to continue at heavyweight, as Grishin agreed. The loss snapped a two-fight winning streak for Knight that included victories over Fabio Cherant and Alonzo Menifield.
Clark, 31, was scheduled to compete at UFC on ESPN 34, but his opponent was never made public. Usually a light heavyweight, Clark is set to make his heavyweight debut off back-to-back losses suffered against Anthony Smith and Ion Cutelaba. Prior to the current skid, Clark won back-to-back fights against Dequan Townsend and the aforementioned Menifield.
With the addition, the UFC on ESPN 34 lineup includes:
Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad Uriah Hall vs. Andre Muniz Brandon Jenkins vs. Drakkar Klose Miguel Baeza vs. Dhiego Lima Chris Barnett vs. Martin Buday Pannie Kianzad vs. Lina Lansberg Mounir Lazzez vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos Rafa Garcia vs. Jesse Ronson Caio Borralho vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev Mayra Buneo Silva vs. Yanan Wu Sam Hughes vs. Istela Hughes Miguel Baeza vs. Andre Fialho Heili Alateng vs. Kevin Croom T.J. Laramie vs. Pat Sabatini Jordan Leavitt vs. Trey Ogden Devin Clark vs. William Knight