Raoni
Barcelos will clash with Timur
Valiev in a bantamweight matchup at UFC Fight Night on June
26.
ESPN
was first to report the pairing. UFC Fight Night takes place at an
as yet to be announced location and is headlined by a heavyweight
tilt between Alexander
Volkov and Ciryl
Gane.
Barcelos was supposed to compete at UFC Fight Night 186 on Feb. 26
but was forced to withdraw from the event after testing positive
for COVID-19. The former Resurrection Fighting Alliance title
holder is currently on a nine-bout professional winning streak that
includes five triumphs in UFC competition. Most recently, he
outpointed Khalid Taha
at UFC on ESPN 17.
Valiev, meanwhile, is unbeaten in his last eight professional
appearances, but only because an upset loss to Trevin
Jones at UFC on ESPN 15 was overturned to a no contest after
his opponent failed a drug test. The former World Series of
Fighting and Professional Fighters League competitor rebounded to
score a unanimous decision victory against Martin Day
in his second promotional appearance at UFC Fight Night 184 on Feb.
8.