UFC lightweights Anthony Pettis and Michael Chiesa will fight on July 7th at UFC 226 in Las Vegas as confirmed by MMA Fighting.
The pair were originally scheduled to fight at UFC 223 in Brooklyn, but the bout was shelved when Chiesa suffered multiple facial lacerations resulting from Conor McGregor’s attack on a bus carrying red corner fighters shortly after the UFC media day had finished at the Barclays Center.
McGregor was charged with three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief. The former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion is expected to return to a New York court in June.
After his fight with Chiesa fell through and Max Holloway was declared medically unfit to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223, Pettis attempted to step in on late notice to fight Khabib for the UFC lightweight championship. However, the promotion was reportedly unwilling to pay Pettis the fight purse he was haggling for – opting to book Al Iaquinta against Nurmagomedov instead.
Pettis is a former WEC and UFC lightweight champion looking to return to title contention once again, coming off a victory over wily veteran Jim Miller at UFC 213.
Chiesa’s last outing saw him lose in controversial fashion against Kevin Lee, who fought Tony Ferguson for the interim championship as a result. Before that, Chiesa was riding a three-fight winning streak which propelled him to the upper reaches of the UFC lightweight rankings.
UFC 226 is set to feature two championship bouts as Stipe Miocic defends his UFC heavyweight title against light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, while featherweight kingpin Max Holloway takes on the surging Brian Ortega in the co-main event.
