Welterweights Vicente Luque and Rafael dos Anjos are expected to clash in a main event fight schedule on July 15 with the card likely taking place in Las Vegas.
Multiple people with knowledge of the fight confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Saturday with verbal agreements in place from the athletes.
Widely regarded as one of the most exciting fighters on the roster, Luque has been a stalwart in the 170-pound rankings in recent years but he’s suffered back-to-back losses in his past two appearances. After rattling off four wins in a row including finishes over ex-UFC champion Tyron Woodley and Michael Chiesa, Luque fell to Belal Muhammad and Geoff Neal.
Now Luque will attempt to get back on track when he faces another former champion in dos Anjos as the Brazilian looks to build on his return to welterweight after he dispatched Bryan Barberena with a second-round submission this past December.
Overall, dos Anjos has gone 3-1 in his past four fights with his only loss coming against Rafael Fiziev at lightweight.
Luque vs. dos Anjos is expected to headline the July 15 card, which takes place one week after UFC 290 with that card also slated for Las Vegas to cap off International Fight Week 2023.
Guilherme Cruz contributed to this report.
