THE BILL FOR Conor McGregor’s revenge mission against Nate Diaz is beginning to come together following the addition of two intriguing contests this morning.
McGregor will aim to bounce back from his defeat to Diaz at UFC 196 back in March when the pair meet again in the main event at UFC 202 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, 20 August.
The welterweight headliner will now be joined on the card by a light-heavyweight co-main event between Glover Teixeira and Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson.
Teixeira and Johnson were due to square off in Chicago on 23 July but the latter was forced to withdraw from the bout due to ‘a serious family matter’. Instead, the third and second-ranked fighters in the 205lbs division will meet in Vegas four weeks later.
With a light-heavyweight title unification bout between reigning champion Daniel Cormier and interim title-holder Jon Jones scheduled for UFC 200 on 9 July, another shot at the belt is likely to be on offer for the winner of the meeting of Teixeira and Johnson, both of whom have failed in previous championship bouts — against Jones and Cormier respectively.
A welterweight tussle between Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and Rick Story — ranked 14th and ninth in the 170lbs division respectively — has also been added to the UFC 202 card.
Since his comprehensive first-round defeat to UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in December, Cerrone has looked revitalised at welterweight. A first-round submission of Alex Oliveira in February was followed by a third-round TKO of Patrick Cote — Cerrone’s 10th win in his last 11 outings — earlier this month.
Aiming for his fourth consecutive win, Story looked impressive as he secured a unanimous-decision victory against Tarec Saffiedine last month. It was a successful return from a frustrating 20-month fallow period for the 31-year-old, which stretched all the way back to his defeat of Gunnar Nelson in October 2014.
There are now four fights officially booked for UFC 202, with a welterweight bout between Hyun Gyu Lim and Sultan Aliev also already confirmed.
UFC 202
Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor
Anthony Johnson vs. Glover Teixeira
Rick Story vs. Donald Cerrone
Hyun Gyu Lim vs. Sultan Aliev
