A middleweight division rematch is headlining the first UFC On Fox card of 2018 as #5 Ronaldo Souza is in action against #7 Derek Brunson.
ESPN first reported the bout.
Souza (24-5-0-1NC) has won two of his last three under the UFC banner, defeating both Tim Boetsch and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort. Souza is going to be headlining his first UFC event in over three years and the last card the Brazilian headlined was UFC Fight Night 50 in September of 2014. Souza won the first bout between he and Brunson, knocking out the fellow middleweight in just over 40 seconds at Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman in 2012.
Brunson (18-5-0) enters the fight on the strength of a two bout winning streak, defeating the duo of Daniel Kelly and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida. Brunson has suffered a total of five losses as a professional MMA fighter, with three of them coming to past/current UFC Middleweight and UFC Interim Middleweight Champions. Brunson has won a total of nine fights since the first meeting with Souza and seven of those wins have come by some form of finish.
UFC On Fox 27 takes place on Saturday, January 27 from the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina with Ronaldo Souza and Derek Brunson headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs on Fox.