A welterweight clash pitting Stephen
Thompson against Michel
Pereira is in the works for UFC 289 on June 10.
The bout was initially reported by
MMA Sucka and later confirmed by
MMAjunkie.com. Pereira also announced the pairing via
Instagram. UFC 289 doesn’t have an official location, but it will
reportedly take place in Canada.
A two-time welterweight title challenger, Thompson ended a two-bout
skid with an entertaining fourth-round technical knockout victory
against Kevin
Holland at UFC on ESPN 42 on Dec. 3. Since joining the Las
Vegas-based promotion in 2012, “Wonderboy” has earned victories
over the likes of Robert
Whittaker, Jake
Ellenberger, Johny
Hendricks, Rory
MacDonald, Jorge
Masvidal, Vicente
Luque and Geoff
Neal.
Pereira will take a five-bout UFC winning streak into the matchup
with Thompson. Most recently, “Demolidor” garnered a split verdict
against Santiago
Ponzinibbio at UFC Fight Night 206 in May 2022. The 29-year-old
Brazilian is 8-2 during his promotional tenure, though one of those
setbacks was a controversial disqualification defeat to Diego
Sanchez in Febrary 2020.