Ryan Bader’s latest attempt at a title run in the UFC’s light heavyweight division came to a halt in January, as he was knocked out by Anthony “Rumble” Johnson at UFC on Fox 18. He’s been out of action since that fight, but on Wednesday he announced his return matchup for later this year.
Bader confirmed that he’ll be taking on Ilir Latifi at the recently announced UFC Fight Night event in Hamburg, Germany, on Sept. 3. It’s not yet clear whether or not that bout is intended as a main event for the card.
The 32-year-old Bader, winner of the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter, is 13-5 thus far in his UFC run, with the loss to Johnson snapping a five-fight winning streak in the division. He holds wins over several top end competitors in his run, defeating names like Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Ovince Saint Preux, Phil Davis, and Rashad Evans, though he’s been defeated by several more including Jon Jones, Lyoto Machida, Glover Teixeira, and the aforementioned Johnson.
As for Latifi, he faces the highest ranked competitor he’s met in the Octagon since fighting Gegard Mousasi on short notice in his UFC debut. 32 himself, the Swedish competitor has won five of six fights since that debut, stopping four opponents in those wins and most recently scoring a decision victory over Gian Villante.
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