Matheus Nicolau returns vs. Tagir Ulanbekov at UFC 257 on Jan. 23
Matheus Nicolau is back in the UFC.
Nicolau (15-2-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) will face Tagir Ulanbekov (12-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) on Jan. 23 at UFC 257, which is expected to take place at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. UFC officials announced the booking Friday.
Since getting released from the UFC in February 2019, Nicolau picked up a submission of Alan Gabriel in Future FC 5 and, most recently, a unanimous decision over Felipe Efrain at Brave CF 25 in August 2019. In his first stint in the UFC, Nicolau went 3-1 with wins over Bruno Mesquita, John Moraga and Louis Smolka before he suffered a first-round knockout to Dustin Ortiz.
Russia’s Ulanbekov made good in his promotional debut when he defeated Bruno Silva by unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN+ 37 in October, which extended his winning streak to four.
With the addition, the latest UFC 257 lineup includes:
- Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier
- Joanne Calderwood vs. Jessica Eye
- Amanda Ribas vs. Michelle Waterson
- Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Brad Tavares
- Nasrat Haqparast vs. Arman Tsarukyan
- Ottman Azaitar vs. Matt Frevola
- Sergey Morozov vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
- Shane Burgos vs. Hakeem Dawodu
- Andre Muniz vs. Andrew Sanchez
- Marcin Prachnio vs. Khalil Rountree
- Matheus Nicolau vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
Matheus Nicolau returns vs. Tagir Ulanbekov at UFC 257 on Jan. 23
