Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker (20-5) returns against Jared Cannonier (13-4) at UFC 248, the officials announced on Friday. The pay-per-view fight card takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV on March 8.
In his previous bout early October Robert Whittaker lost the belt against Israel Adesanya by knockout in the second round. Before that he was riding a stretched nine-fight win streak since June 2014. This includes a pair of victories by decision against Yoel Romero, second-round TKO against Ronaldo Souza, the first-round stoppage of Derek Brunson, among others.
Jared Cannonier won all three of his previous bouts prior to the final horn. In September he stopped Jack Hermansson 27 seconds in the first round, following the first-round TKO of Anderson Silva in May. Last November he defeated David Branch via TKO in Round 2.
UFC 248 is also scheduled to see women’s strawweight battle between the defending champion Zhang Weili and former titleholder Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Among other matchups, Neil Magny is expected to take on Li Jingliang at welterweight.
Other bouts for UFC 248 fight card are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. The way the lineup looks to date can be found below.
Source: www.fightmag.com