By:  | June 15, 2022 9:39 am

Takashi Sato will be taking on Bryan Battle at UFC on ESPN 40. The Japanese welterweight needs to get back in the winning column after losing his last two.

The event is set for the Apex Centre on August 6th and Sato announced the fight himself on Twitter yesterday:

Sato (16-5) fights out of Sanford MMA in Florida. With just two wins from his first five UFC fights the 32 year old’s spot on the roster looks a little insecure.

He stopped Ben Saunders and Jason Witt in impressive style. But the Japanese welterweight was choked out by Belal Muhammad and Miguel Baeza and dropped a decision to Gunnar Nelson last time out although that was a last minute matchup.

Battle (7-1) earned his spot on the roster by winning TUF 28. It means the 27 year old has two wins inside the octagon which do not appear on his official record.

All his official UFC fights so far have been against TUF 28 cast members. He beat replacement Gilbert Urbina in the final and was then matched with the man he replaced, Tresean Gore.

Best of the rest

The main event features a former light heavyweight title challenger who has been on the roster since 2013. Thiago Santos (22-10) is currently ranked #6 and is best known for dropping a split decision to Jon Jones at UFC 239 in 2019.

He has been matched with #10 ranked Jamahal Hill (10-1-0-1). The American was offered a UFC contract after impressing at Dana White’s contender series in 2019.

UFC on ESPN 40, Las Vegas, August 6th
Thiago Santos vs. Jamahal Hill (Light heavyweight)
Vicente Luque vs. Geoff Neal (Welterweight)
Augusto Sakai vs. Sergey Spivak (Light heavyweight)
Cory McKenna vs. Miranda Granger (Strawweight)
Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Stephanie Egger (Bantamweight)
Terrance McKinney vs. Erick Gonzalez (Lightweight)
Michał Oleksiejczuk vs. Sam Alvey (Middleweight)
Takashi Sato vs. Bryan Battle (Welterweight)
Jason Witt vs. Josh Quinlan (Welterweight)