A lightweight division encounter originally set for UFC 223 has been re-booked for UFC 226 according to Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting as #9 Michael Chiesa faces #12 Anthony Pettis.
The fight at UFC 223 was canned after former UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor and comrades attacked a bus full of UFC fighters days before the event to allegedly get at UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Chiesa suffered facial lacerations due to the attack and was deemed unable to compete, while Chiesa would also file a police report against McGregor for what happened.
Chiesa (14-3-0) is coming off of his first ever main event bout in the UFC, which was a submission loss to Kevin Lee at UFC Fight Night Oklahoma City. Chiesa had won three straight fights before the Lee loss, which includes a submission win over Beneil Dariush at UFC On Fox 19. Chiesa was also the winner of the UFC Ultimate Fighter 15, defeating Al Iaquinta by first round submission in the finals of the reality show.
Pettis (20-7-0) has won just two of his last seven under the UFC banner, with those victories coming over Charles Oliveira and Jim Miller. Pettis is also a former UFC Lightweight Champion, defeating Ben Henderson in a rematch by submission at UFC 164. Pettis has suffered five losses in his last seven bouts, with three of those losses coming to current/former UFC Lightweight/Featherweight Champions.
UFC 226 takes place on Saturday, July 7 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.