Originally set for UFC Fight Night 102, a bantamweight division bout between #3 Raphael Assuncao at #8 Aljamain Sterling has been rebooked for UFC On Fox 23 in January. The fight was scrapped at UFC Fight Night 102 after Sterling pulled out of the fight due to an injury.
Assuncao (23-5-0) has won seven of his last eight under the UFC banner, with notable victories coming over former UFC Bantamweight Champion TJ Dillashaw, Johnny Eduardo, Mike Easton, Pedro Munhoz and Bryan Caraway. Assuncao has only competed once in the last two-plus years, that fight was a loss to the aforementioned TJ Dillashaw in their rematch at UFC 200. Raphael is the brother of former UFC fighter Junior Assuncao, who is the current Titan Fighting Championships Lightweight Champion.
Sterling (12-1-0) will be looking to rebound from his first professional MMA defeat, which came to Bryan Carway at UFC Fight Night 88. Sterling had won four fights in the UFC prior to that loss, with big wins coming over Takeya Mizugaki and Johnny Eduardo. Sterling is a former Cage Fury Fighting Championships Bantamweight Champion, he defended the belt three times before signing with the UFC in 2014.
UFC On Fox 23 takes place on Saturday, January 28 from the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado with Juliana Pena and Valentina Shevchenko headlining.
