The UFC is in the process of finalizing a fun welterweight matchup that will take place in June. MMA Fighting was the first to report last night that verbal agreements were in place for a welterweight matchup between Matt Brown (22-18) and Dhiego Lima (15-8).
The matchup will take place on June 19th. We just saw Dhiego Lima in the octagon a couple of weeks ago against Belal Muhammad. It was a massive fight for Lima as he was looking to break into the UFC‘s rankings at 170 pounds.
Lima had been riding a three-fight win streak heading into the contest with Muhammad. However, that winning streak came to a close a couple of weeks ago. Lima did have some solid moments on the feet during his contest with Muhammad at UFC 258.
However, Lima couldn’t get any distance the entire fight. Muhammad’s pressure was too much and Lima ultimately dropped a decision. Now, he will look to regroup and the UFC is giving him a recognizable name to potentially reestablish himself.
The UFC’s Immortal One
Matt Brown has had quite the journey with the UFC. Brown has now been with the promotion for almost thirteen years and he’s been in there with some of the best that the sport has to offer.
The best run of his career came between 2012 and 2014. Brown went 7-0 and one of those wins came against former title challenger, Stephen Thompson. That winning streak put him in a position to fight Robbie Lawler in a title eliminator.
The two had a fantastic matchup, however, Brown didn’t get his hand raised. Since that Lawler fight, Brown has just gone 3-6 in the UFC. He’s now lost two fights in a row, most recently to Carlos Condit back in January.
At 40 years old, the end of the line might be nearing for Matt Brown. This is a massive fight for his UFC future. If Matt Brown can’t win this matchup in June, he might be seeing the end of the road inside the octagon.