The UFC is returning to Tampa, Florida for the first time since 2009 as UFC on FOX 19 will come from the Amelia Arena on April 16 and will be headlined by a lightweight bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson.
UFC officials announced the event on Saturday night and along with confirming the main event, the UFC also announced Rashad Evans vs. Mauricio Rua, Lyoto Machida vs. Dan Henderson, Rose Namajunas vs. Tecia Torres, Bethe Correia vs. Raquel Pennington, Beneil Darish vs. Michael Chiesa and Cub Swanson vs. Hacran Dias has been added to the April fight card.
Nurmagomedov (22-0) was scheduled to fight Ferguson in December, but he had to pull out of that fight due to an injury. This will be his first fight in two years and the last time he stepped into the UFC cage, he defeated current UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos by unanimous decision. Ferguson (20-3) had been scheduled to take on Michael Johnson at UFC 197 in March, but Johnson pulled out of the fight due to undisclosed reasons and now Ferguson will fight one month later. He will enter this fight with seven straight victories and his most recent win came in December against Edson Barboza.
Ticket information for UFC on FOX 19: Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson will be announced shortly by the UFC and the current fight card is below.
Khabib Nurmagomedov (22-0) vs. Tony Ferguson (20-3)
Rashad Evans (19-4, 1NC) vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (23-10)
Beneil Dariush (12-1) vs. Michael Chiesa (13-2)
Lyoto Machida (22-7) vs. Dan Henderson (31-14)
Cub Swanson (21-7) vs. Hacran Dias (23-3-1)
Bethe Correia (9-1) vs. Raquel Pennington (6-5)