A lightweight bout between Mairbek Taisumov and Evan Dunham is official for UFC 223.
The Las Vegas-based promotion confirmed the matchup to Newsday. UFC 223 takes place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., on April 7 and is headlined by a lightweight championship clash between interim titlist Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov. In the co-main event, Rose Namajunas will defend her strawweight crown in a rematch against Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Taisumov has compiled an impressive five-fight winning streak in the Octagon, with all of those triumphs coming by knockout or technical knockout. Most recently, the 29-year-old Russian knocked out Felipe Silva 1:24 into the opening round of their bout at UFC Fight Night 115 on Sept. 2.
The 36-year-old Dunham is unbeaten in his last five appearances, although his last outing resulted in a majority draw with Beneil Dariush at UFC 216. Prior to that, Dunham had earned four consecutive unanimous decision wins over Rick Glenn, Joe Lauzon, Ross Pearson and Rodrigo Damm.