New Zealand's latest UFC recruit 'Blood Diamond' will make his Octagon debut against Orion Cosce at UFC 271 on February 13 (NZ time), the promotion has confirmed.
Fighting on the preliminary undercard, the City Kickboxing product will join two of his teammates at the pay-per-view event in Houston, with Carlos Ulberg making his second UFC appearance against Fabio Cherant and Israel Adesanya defending his middleweight title in a rematch with Robert Whittaker in the headline act.
A two-time King in the Ring champion, the fighter simply known as 'Blood Diamond' has been tearing through all-comers on the NZ regional combat scene for years as a kickboxer, before deciding to shift his focus full-time to mixed martial arts.
Eventually the UFC came calling with a multiple-fight contract offer in July, unable to resist the clear marketability and talent of the flashy striker, who oozes entertainment value.
Now boasting a 3-0 MMA record, he will have his chance to make a statement in his first UFC outing against Cosce in a welterweight clash at the Toyota Center.
The American was stopped in a second-round knockout in his debut in July, ending his streak of seven-straight finishes.
Signed after his head-turning first-round knockout win in Dana White's Contender Series, Ulberg will be looking to bounce back from his debut loss against Kennedy Nzechukwu in March, where despite the defeat, he won plenty of fans in an electric Fight of the Night tussle.
Meanwhile, Adesanya - coming off his shutout win over Marvin Vettori in June - will attempt to defend his middleweight crown for a fourth time.
'The Last Stylebender' took the belt from NZ-born Aussie Whittaker at UFC 243 in Melbourne back in 2019, winning via second-round knockout.
'Blood Diamond' will become the sixth active Kiwi UFC fighter, joining Adesanya, Ulberg, Kai Kara-France, Brad Riddell, and Dan Hooker, all of whom are teammates at Auckland's City Kickboxing under head trainer Eugene Bareman.
