Heavyweights Jailton Almeida and Curtis Blaydes are set to clash at UFC 299 on March 9.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Tuesday.
Almeida and Blaydes were originally scheduled to meet in November, but Blaydes suffered an injury that forced him off the card. Almeida ultimately dominated late replacement Derrick Lewis by unanimous decision to improve his record to 20-2 overall, with a perfect 6-0 résumé in the UFC.
Widely considered to be a future title contender at heavyweight, Almeida faces his toughest test to date when he returns to action in March, with hopes to enter the championship conversation with a win.
Meanwhile, Blaydes makes his first appearance since falling to Sergei Pavlovich in April. That loss halted a three-fight win streak from Blaydes over the likes of current UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, as well as Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Chris Daukaus.
Now Blaydes seeks to stop Almeida’s momentum when they meet in a three-round heavyweight fight in March.
UFC 299 is headlined by a bantamweight title fight, as reigning champion Sean O’Malley takes on Marlon “Chito” Vera in a rematch. Vera remains the only person on the UFC roster to beat O’Malley, so now they’ll run it back again with the 135-pound title on the line.
Guilherme Cruz contributed to this story.
