Two bouts have been added to the UFC 224 lineup, as John Lineker will square off against Brian Kelleher at bantamweight, while Thales Leites will meet Jack Hermansson at middleweight in Rio de Janeiro on May 12.
Multiple outlets have confirmed the Lineker vs. Kelleher booking following an initial report by Combate. Meanwhile, the promotion officially announced the Leites vs. Hermansson showdown on Monday.
UFC 224 takes place at Jeunesse Arena and will feature a women’s bantamweight championship clash between Amanda Nunes and Raquel Pennington.
Lineker has won seven of his last eight Octagon appearances, including a unanimous decision triumph over Marlon Vera at UFC Fight Night 119 in his lone bout of 2017. Kelleher, meanwhile, has won three of his four in the promotion and is coming off a three-round verdict over ex-champ Renan Barao at UFC on Fox 28 on Feb. 24.
Leites is 2-5 in his last seven and most recently suffered a decision loss to Brad Tavares at UFC 216. Hermansson had a two-fight winning streak snapped in a first-round TKO defeat to Thiago Santos at UFC Fight Night 119.