Tony Ferguson booked to fight Charles Oliveira at UFC 256
Tony Ferguson has been granted his wish to fight once more before the end of the year.
Ferguson, a former interim UFC lightweight champion, will meet Charles Oliveira on Dec. 12 at UFC 256 in Las Vegas.
MMA Junkie confirmed the matchup with multiple people close to the situation following an initial report from UFC broadcast partner ESPN. The people requested anonymity because the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.
Ferguson later issued an Instagram post acknowledging he’ll be fighting Dec. 12.
Ferguson (25-4 MMA, 15-2 UFC) will fight for the first time since losing an interim lightweight title fight to Justin Gaethje last May at UFC 249, which snapped a 12-fight winning streak. “El Cucuy” has been vocal about his desire to get one more fight in before 2020 came to a close. Ferguson was linked to a potential fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 254, but the booking never materialized. In recent weeks, Ferguson had turned his attention to former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler, who is waiting to make his UFC debut.
Oliveira (29-8 MMA, 17-8 UFC), meanwhile, is looking to extend a seven-fight winning streak at 155 pounds – all of which have come by stoppage. In his most recent bout last March, Oliveira submitted Kevin Lee by guillotine choke.
Ferguson and Oliveira, who joined the UFC in 2011 and 2010, respectively, have 27 fight night bonuses between the two of them and a combined 28 UFC finishes.
With the addition, the latest UFC 256 lineup now includes:
- Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling – for bantamweight title
- Tony Ferguson vs. Charles Oliveira
- Dwight Grant vs. Li Jingliang
- Ronaldo Souza vs. Marvin Vettori
- Angela Hill vs. Tecia Torres
- Mackenzie Dern vs. Virna Jandiroba
- Omari Akhmedov vs. opponent TBA
- Serghei Spivac vs. Jared Vanderaa
- Dalcha Lungiambula vs. Karl Roberson
- Peter Barrett vs. Chase Hooper
- Billy Quarantillo vs. Gavin Tucker
- Andrea Lee vs. Gillian Robertson
