The UFC has finalized a banger of a matchup in their featherweight division. BJPenn.com was the first to report yesterday that the promotion had booked the return of Josh Emmett (16-2). Emmett will take on fellow top ten featherweight Dan Ige (15-4) in his return.
The matchup will take place on the stacked UFC 269 card in December that features two title fights as well as Jorge Masvidal – Leon Edwards. Ige will be looking to bounce back when he steps into the octagon against Emmett in December.
The last time we saw Ige was when he took on The Korean Zombie, Chan Sung Jung, back in June. The two men fought in a headliner and had a very competitive fight. However, Jung was a little too crisp for Ige and Ige lost a decision.
Ige knocked out Gavin Tucker in 22 seconds prior to his fight with The Zombie. Overall, Ige is 7-2 in his last night fights. While he has a controversial win over Edson Barboza, we’ve seen Ige only stumble against the elite of the UFC‘s featherweight division.
His two losses came in main events against Calvin Kattar and Chan Sung Jung. Emmett is another elite featherweight so this is going to be a big test for Ige. He needs to show the UFC that he’s capable of beating top ten guys if he wants to be a serious contender.
UFC return for Josh Emmett
Josh Emmett will enter UFC 269 on a three-fight win streak. Emmett has looked sensational in his last few fights, but it’s been a while since we’ve seen him. In his last fight, he had a fight of the year like battle with the tough Shane Burgos.
Emmett picked up the decision and his power proved to be the difference as he dropped Burgos multiple times. However, he didn’t come through the fight with no damage. Emmett did some serious damage to his knee and we haven’t seen him since.
That UFC fight against Burgos took place last June so by the time Emmett makes the walk in December, it would’ve been a year and a half. I’m very curious to see how Emmett looks in this matchup. If he comes out and dominates Ige, we might be looking at a serious title contender.