A pivotal lightweight bout between Edson Barboza and Beneil Dariush is official for UFC Fight Night 107, which takes place in Fortaleza, Brazil.
The UFC released an official event poster with the fight on earlier today.
Barboza (18-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) is known as one of the most vicious kickers in the UFC, and has lived up to that more than once. In 2013 at UFC 162, Barboza picked up his sixth UFC win, and it was his second victory via leg kicks. The Brazilian has had trouble being consistent, putting together two and three fight win streaks, but no more. His first fight of 2016 came at UFC 197, where the 30-year-old dominated Anthony Pettis with superior striking to take away a decision victory. In his most recent outing, Barboza once again used superior striking and violent kicks to take a decision victory over Gilbert Melendez at UFC on FOX 20.
Dariush (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) went 1-1 in his opening two octagon appearances, but following the loss, went on a five fight tear. The Iranian defeated Tony Martin, Carlos Diego Ferreira, Daron Cruickshank, Jim Miller and most notably Michael Johnson. His next fight did result in a loss, however, as he tapped to a rear naked choke against Michael Chiesa at UFC Tampa. Rebounding from the loss, Dariush faced James Vick, and won via TKO in the first round. In his most recent outing, Dariush faced Rashid Magomedov, and won the fight via Unanimous Decision at The Ultimate Fighter Latin America 3 Finale.
UFC Fortaleza takes place live from the Centro de Formação Olímpica do Nordeste in Fortaleza, Brazil on March 11, 2017. The card is set to be headlined by a middleweight encounter between Kelvin Gastelum and Vitor Belfort.
