Lightweights will take center stage at UFC Austin when Beneil Dariush clashes with Arman Tsarukyan in the main event while Dan Hooker takes on Bobby Green in the co-main event on Dec. 2 at the Moody Center.
UFC CEO Dana White made the announcement about the fights late Monday night while also confirming that both the main and co-main events will take place over five rounds.
Dariush makes his return to action after his eight fight win streak was snapped in his last outing against Charles Oliveira in May. The 34-year-old contender now attempts to get back on track after he earned three Performance of the Night bonuses along with a Fight of the Night during his unbeaten run towards the top of the division.
As for Tsarukyan, he’ll attempt to build on a two-fight win streak of his own after taking out Joaquim Silva and Damir Ismagulov in back-to-back outings. Since joining the UFC roster, Tsarukyan has put together an impressive 7-2 record with his only losses coming to current lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and a razor-close decision to Mateusz Gamrot.
Meanwhile, Hooker and Green meet in a rare five-round co-main event with both fighters coming off statement wins.
After returning to the lightweight division following a brief stop at 145 pounds, Hooker took out Claudio Puelles and Jalin Turner to re-establish himself among the best fighters in the division. He’ll look to make it three in a row when he faces Green in December after the always exciting veteran dispatched Grant Dawson in just 33 seconds in early October, which followed a submission win over former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson back in July.
Dariush vs. Tsarukyan and Hooker vs. Green headlines the UFC’s return to Austin with several more fights also confirmed including Kelvin Gastelum vs. Sean Brady, Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Rob Font, Miesha Tate vs. Julia Avila and Khalil Rountree vs. Azamat Murzakanov