A matchup of middleweight contenders has been rebooked for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s debut event in Paris.
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The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Tuesday that Robert
Whittaker and Marvin
Vettori will square off on Sept. 3 at Accor Arena in Paris,
France. Whittaker and Vettori were originally slated to meet at UFC
275 on June 11 before Whittaker was forced to pull out of the fight
due to an undisclosed injury.
While Whittaker vs. Vettori is the only official fight for the
event,
UFC Paris is expected to be headlined by a heavyweight showdown
pitting Ciryl Gane
against Tai
Tuivasa. Also previously reported for the card is a women’s
flyweight clash between Katlyn
Chookagian and Manon
Fiorot.
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Whittaker last appeared at UFC 271, where he came up short in a bid
to regain the 185-pound belt in a unanimous decision loss to
Israel
Adesanya on Feb. 12 in Houston. Prior to that, “The Reaper”
earned successive triumphs over Darren Till,
Jared
Cannonier and Kelvin
Gastelum to earn a rematch against the reigning champion.
Whittaker’s brief stint as middleweight king ended in a
second-round KO loss to Adesanya at UFC 243 in October 2019.
Five consecutive Octagon triumphs from July 2019 to April 2021
earned Vettori a shot at middleweight gold at UFC 263, where he
dropped a five-round verdict against Adesanya. The 28-year-old
Italian returned to the win column in his most recent appearance,
when he outpointed Paulo Costa
in a light heavyweight bout at UFC Fight Night 196 this past
October.
Your first bout for
#UFCParis is official!Robert Whittaker vs Marvin Vettori
https://t.co/IFdZXeYW4U
pic.twitter.com/Ej3MBa2RHb— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope)
May 31, 2022