THE UFC HAVE officially announced plans for their bantamweight title after it was vacated last week by TJ Dillashaw.
Henry Cejudo (14-2), the current flyweight champion, will face Marlon Moraes (22-5-1) for the 135-pound belt in the main event at UFC 238 in Chicago on 8 June.
Title defences for light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones and dual-division women’s champion Amanda Nunes, against Thiago Santos and Holly Holm respectively, are also on the UFC’s agenda this summer.
Dillashaw relinquished the bantamweight strap last week after testing positive for a prohibited substance, for which he received a one-year suspension from the New York State Athletic Commission.
The test stemmed from his fight against Cejudo in January, when his bid to clinch the flyweight belt ended with a TKO defeat after 32 seconds of the first round.
Cejudo, a 2008 Olympic gold medallist in freestyle wrestling, will look to emulate Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier and Amanda Nunes by becoming the fourth fighter in UFC history to hold two titles simultaneously.
Moraes, a former World Series of Fighting bantamweight champion, has been on a tear since recovering from a split-decision defeat to Raphael Assuncao in his UFC debut in June 2017.
He overcame John Dodson, Aljamain Sterling and Jimmie Rivera, before exacting revenge over Assuncao in February with a first-round submission victory.
At UFC 239 in Las Vegas on 6 July, Jon Jones (24-1) will defend the light-heavyweight title for the 10th time in a bout against the in-form Thiago Santos (21-6).
After 18 outings under the UFC banner, former middleweight Santos gets his first shot at a title having seen off Kevin Holland, Eryk Anders, Jimi Manuwa and Jan Blachowicz since making the move up in weight last year.
The same card will feature a bantamweight title defence for Amanda Nunes (17-4), who faces one of her predecessors as 135-pound title-holder, Holly Holm (12-4).
Nunes has accumulated eight consecutive wins, the most recent of which saw her dethrone featherweight champion Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino in December. Holm, who lost to Cyborg in December 2017, returned to winning ways last June by getting the better of Megan Anderson.
Both fight bookings for UFC 239 were confirmed to ESPN by UFC president Dana White, who also revealed that former welterweight champions Tyron Woodley (19-4-1) and Robbie Lawler (28-13) have agreed to a rematch as the headliner for a Fight Night card in Minneapolis on 29 June.
Woodley was crowned 170-pound champion courtesy of a first-round KO of Lawler in July 2016. In his fifth defence, he lost the title via unanimous decision to Kamaru Usman earlier this month.
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