Two Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweights
looking to get back into contention will throw down in March.
At the currently unnumbered UFC
Fight Night Event on March 16, a show that will take place at
the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Thiago
Moises (17-7) and Brad
Riddell (10-4) will collide. News of this lightweight pairing
first came on Wednesday night courtesy of Eurosport
NL, and it has since been confirmed
by Moises’ management team on Thursday.
Moises ended his 2023 campaign unsuccessfully when he faced
Benoit
St. Denis at UFC Fight Night 226, ultimately succumbing to
strikes near the end of Round 2. That defeat concluded a two-fight
submission streak for the Brazilian, who tapped Christos
Giagos with a rear-naked choke and crushed Melquizael
Costa’s face with a crank. Each of the last five outings for
the submission specialist have ended inside the distance, win or
lose.
Riddell has struggled as of late, suffering three stoppage losses
in 2021 and 2022. When the Kiwi lost to Renato
Carneiro to put himself on a three-bout skid, he stated that he
would be stepping away from the sport for a time. His self-imposed
hiatus will have lasted about 16 months, and the 32-year-old will
be aiming to get back to his winning ways which saw him prevail in
his first four trips to the Octagon—notably pulling off a decision
over Drew
Dober in 2021 to get a place in the lightweight rankings.
The March 16 UFC Fight Night event will go down at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas, and no headliner is currently on the books. The
highest-billed bout currently on the lineup is likely
Moises-Riddell. Four other matches are currently set: a
welterweight scrap between Bryan
Battle and Ange Loosa, a
flyweight contest pitting Ode
Osbourne against Jafel
Filho, a strawweight affair when Cory
McKenna faces Jaqueline
Amorim and a high-intensity collision between Christian
Rodriguez and Isaac
Dulgarian at 145 pounds.