Stephen Thompson vs. Belal Muhammad targeted for UFC Fight Night 199

Two of the top-ranked welterweights in the UFC are slated to collide at the promotion’s final event of 2021.

Two-time title challenger Stephen Thompson will take on Belal Muhammad in a three-round welterweight contest at UFC Fight Night 199, pending finalization. The card takes place Dec. 18 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup informed MMA Junkie of the targeted booking Thursday but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Muhammad (19-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) has not lost since January 2019, a stretch of six fights. During that span, Muhammad is 5-0 with one no contest, including victories over Demian Maia and Dhiego Lima.

Thompson (16-5-1 MMA, 11-5-1 UFC) most recently competed in July, when he lost a unanimous decision to Gilbert Burns. The defeat snapped a streak of back-to-back unanimous decision victories over Vicente Luque and Geoff Neal.

With the addition, the UFC Fight Night 199 lineup includes:

• Chris Daukaus vs. Derrick Lewis
• Belal Muhammad vs. Stephen Thompson
• Angela Hill vs. Amanda Lemos
• Abusupiyan Magomedov vs. Gerald Meerschaert
• Darren Elkins vs. Cub Swanson
• Anthony Hernandez vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
• Don’Tale Mayes vs. Josh Parisian
• Raphael Assuncao vs. Ricky Simon
• Jordan Leavitt vs. Matt Sayles
• Harry Hunsucker vs. Justin Tafa
• Julia Avila vs. Raquel Pennington
• Andre Ewell vs. Charles Jourdain
• Raoni Barcelos vs. Trevin Jones
• Sijara Eubanks vs. Melissa Gatto
• Diego Ferreira vs. Mateusz Gamrot