A bantamweight fight has been added to the UFC 242 card. Promotional newcomer Liana Jojua will face off against Sarah Moras at Du Arena on September 7th.
Jojua (7-2) hails from Georgia and signed for the UFC on the back of a five fight winning streak. She holds the 135lbs title with Russian promotion Fight Nights and has also competed on cards in China.
By contrast Moras (5-5) is a promotional veteran who burst onto the scene during TUF 18. This will be her seventh UFC fight but the Canadian has lost her last three and hasn’t tasted victory in nearly two years.
As previously announced the event will be headlined by a lightweight unification bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier.
There is a strong Russian presence on the card with Shamil Abdurakhimov, Muslim Salikhov, Islam Makhachev and Mairbek Taisumov all fighting as well as Nurmagomedov. The only Asian representative booked at present is Japanese welterweight Takashi Sato.
The UFC has put on two events in Abu Dhabi but has not been back there since 2014. The first card took place at a purpose-built stadium on Yas Island and featured the likes of Anderson Silva and B.J. Penn while the second card was at Du Arena and didn’t have such a stellar line up.
UFC 242, Abu Dhabi, September 7th
Khabib Nurmagomedov (c) vs. Dustin Poirier (For Lightweight Title)
Belal Muhammad vs. Takashi Sato (Welterweight)
Khalid Taha vs. Bruno Gustavo Aparecido Da Silva (Bantamweight)
Curtis Blaydes vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov (Heavyweight)
Teemu Packalén vs. Ottman Azaitar (Lightweight)
Nordine Taleb vs. Muslim Salikhov (Welterweight)
Islam Makhachev vs. Davi Ramos (Lightweight)
Mairbek Taisumov vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira (Lightweight)
Liana Jojua vs. Sarah Moras (Bantamweight)
