Vicente Luque to Fight Ian Garry at UFC 296

Vicente Luque is set to face an up-and-comer…

The 31-year-old Brazilian-Chilean American mixed martial artist will face rising UFC star Ian Garry at UFC 296 on December 16 in Las Vegas, UFC president Dana White announced early Sunday on social media.

Vicente LuqueBoth fighters have been teammates at Kill Cliff FC, and each is trying to get into the welterweight title conversation.

Luque (22-9-1) beat former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos via unanimous decision on August 12. Training out of Florida, he has won five of his past seven fights. Luque has the second-most finishes in UFC welterweight history (13).

Garry (13-0) is 6-0 in UFC and coming off a dominant, unanimous decision win over Neil Magny at UFC 292 on August 19. The Ireland native is the former Cage Warriors welterweight champion. Garry, 25, is regarded as one of the best young fighters in the world and Ireland’s best chance at a UFC championship since Conor McGregor.

UFC 296 is shaping up to be one of the deepest cards of the year, headlined by a welterweight title fight between champion Leon Edwards and former interim titleholder Colby Covington. In the co-main event, Alexandre Pantoja defends his flyweight title against Brandon Royval.

Pedro Munhoz to Fight Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 292

Pedro Munhoz is stepping in…

The 36-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist, a perennial top-10 bantamweight, will face Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 292 on August 19, after Vera’s original opponent, Henry Cejudo, withdrew from the bout due to injury.

Pedro MunhozVera (22-8-1) was supposed to face Cejudo in the co-main event of UFC 292, but Cejudo withdrew shortly after the bout was agreed to because of a shoulder injury.

Vera’s management team announced the new pairing via social media on Friday.

Munhoz (20-7) has floated amongst the UFC bantamweight rankings for years, although he’s only 2-4 in his last six outings. All four losses, however, came against current or former UFC champs in Aljamain SterlingFrankie EdgarJose Aldo and Dominick Cruz.

Fighting out of American Top Team, Munhoz is coming off a much-needed upset over Chris Gutierrez in April.

Vera, of Ecuador, will look to rebound from a split-decision loss to Cory Sandhagen in March. Sterling, the defending bantamweight champ, is slated to headline the UFC 292 pay-per-view event against Sean O’Malley.

The event will take place inside TD Garden.

Henry Cejudo to Fight Marlon “Chito” Vera in Bantamweight Contest at UFC 292

Henry Cejudo is preparing for a pivotal contest…

The 36-year-old Mexican American professional mixed martial artist and freestyle wrestler, a former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion, will fight Marlon “Chito” Vera in a bantamweight contest at UFC 292 in August, UFC president Dana White told ESPN on Monday.

Henry CejudoContracts haven’t been signed, but both sides have verbally agreed to the bout.

It will take place on the pay-per-view event on August 19 in Boston’s TD Garden.

A bantamweight championship bout between defending champion Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley is slated to headline the card.

Cejudo (16-3) is coming off a failed bid to recapture the 135-pound title in May. The former dual-weight champion came out of a three-year retirement to challenge Sterling at UFC 288, but lost via split decision.

Cejudo initially planned on waiting for a fight against Sterling’s teammate and No. 1-ranked bantamweight title contender Merab Dvalishvili, but opted to jump at an opportunity to fight on August 19, which marks the 15-year anniversary of his Olympic gold medal run in 2008.

Vera (22-8-1), of Ecuador, is also coming off a split decision loss. He came up just short in a five-round fight against Cory Sandhagen in March. Prior to the loss, Vera had won four in a row.

Cejudo and Vera are the UFC’s Nos. 3 and 6-ranked bantamweights, respectively.