No elevators to the top I’ll take the stairs
pic.twitter.com/Q1z5nM3nmf— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170)
November 11, 2021
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. The Ultimate Fighting Championship is not done
building up its year-end card on Dec. 18.
MMA Junkie first reported on Thursday that Stephen
Thompson (16-5-1) will be facing Belal
Muhammad (19-3, 1 NC) at
UFC Fight Night 199. The two welterweights will go to battle on
Dec. 18 inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Shortly after the booking
was announced, Muhammad confirmed the fight on Twitter.
Thompson had a two-fight win streak snapped when he met Gilbert
Burns at UFC 264 in July, falling short to his fellow former
170-pound title challenger by unanimous verdict. The setback
blunted the momentum that “Wonderboy” had gained by defeating
surging contenders Vicente
Luque in 2019 and Geoff Neal in
2020. Throughout his storied career, the karateka celebrates wins
over names including Robert
Whittaker, Johny
Hendricks, Rory
MacDonald and Jorge
Masvidal among many others.
Since he fell short by decision to Neal at the beginning of 2019,
Muhammad has not lost. “Remember the Name” will come into this
potential thriller on a six-fight unbeaten streak, which includes
wins over fighters like Demian Maia
and Dhiego Lima,
as well as a no contest against Leon
Edwards due to an eye poke. Dating back the last five years,
the only two men to beat him are the aforementioned Luque and Neal
across 12 appearances.
UFC Fight Night 199 goes down inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on
Dec. 18. Capping off the final UFC show of the year is a
heavyweight tilt between Derrick
Lewis and Chris
Daukaus. Fights likely booked for the main card include a
welterweight contest between Diego
Ferreira and Mateusz
Gamrot, a bantamweight clash pitting Raphael
Assuncao and Ricky Simon
and a women’s strawweight encounter between Amanda
Lemos and Angela
Hill.
