Chris Weidman will put his middleweight title on the line against Vitor Belfort at UFC 181 in Las Vegas.
UFC officials announced the match-up on Wednesday morning after Belfort was granted a license to compete in the state of Nevada at a commission hearing.
Weidman (12-0) is coming off arguably the toughest fight of his career against Lyoto Machida at UFC 175. He took home the unanimous decision in a back and forth battle which kept the belt around his waist and earned him $50,000 for ‘Fight of the Night’. The 30-year-old won the middleweight championship at UFC 162 when he knocked out pound-for-pound kingpin Anderson Silva, he then defended the belt at UFC 168 where he beat Silva once again.
Belfort (24-10) is riding a three-fight winning streak and his only two-losses in his last twelve fights were to Anderson Silva and Jon Jones. He’s earned ‘Knockout of the Night’ honors in his last three victories against Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold and most recently Dan Henderson.
UFC 181 goes down on December 6 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
