Michel Pereira heading back to middleweight vs. Marc-Andre Barriault after UFC 291 weight miss

After missing the welterweight mark in his past outing, Michel Pereira has booked his next fight at middleweight.

Pereira (28-11 MMA, 6-2 UFC) faces Marc-Andre Barriault (16-6-1 MMA, 5-5-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night on Oct. 14 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie after an initial report by MMA reporter Laerte Viana.

Pereira missed the welterweight limit by three pounds for his matchup against Stephen Thompson this past July at UFC 291. Thompson elected not to compete, and as a result, the bout was scrapped. The 29-year-old Brazilian, who’s on a five-fight winning streak, will compete at 185 pounds for the first time since joining the UFC roster in May 2019.

After going winless in his first four octagon bouts, Barriault has won five of his past seven, and is coming off back-to-back wins over Julian Marquez and Eryk Anders. The 33-year-old Canadian has finished 11 of his 16 professional wins.

The latest lineup for UFC Fight Night on Oct. 14 now includes:

• Irina Alekseeva vs. Melissa Dixon
• Emily Ducote vs. Ashley Yoder
• Edson Barboza vs. Sodiq Yusuff
• Jonathan Martinez vs. Adrian Yanez
• David Dvorak vs. Tatsuro Taira
• Viviane Araujo vs. Jennifer Maia
• Heili Alateng vs. Rani Yahya
• Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Michel Pereira