A pair of lightweights each in need of a rebound have been booked for a bout later this month.
Jai Herbert (10-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) will take on Khama Worthy (16-8 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 196. MMA Junkie confirmed the matchup with a person with knowledge of the booking. The fight first was reported by MMA DNA.
UFC Fight Night 196 takes place Oct. 23 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.
Herbert debuted in the UFC in 2020 on a six-fight winning streak that included a Cage Warriors lightweight title win and title defense. But in his promotional debut in July 2020, he was knocked out in the third round by Francisco Trinaldo. His follow-up in June was a second-round rear-naked choke loss to Renato Moicano, giving him the first skid of his career.
Worthy has a two-fight skid of his own. After a first-round knockout win over Devonte Smith in his promotional debut at UFC 241, he submitted Luis Pena in June 2020 to run his winning streak to seven fights. But in September 2020, he was knocked out in the first round by Ottman Azaitar, and in March had a 46-second knockout loss to Jamie Mullarkey.
With the addition, the latest UFC Fight Night 196 lineup now includes:
- Paulo Costa vs. Marvin Vettori
- Alex Caceres vs. Seungwoo Choi
- Randa Markos vs. Livinha Souza
- Daniel Lacerda vs. Jeff Molina
- Jessica-Rose Clark vs. Joselyne Edwards
- Jun Yong Park vs. Gregory Rodrigues
- Mason Jones vs. Alan Patrick
- Dwight Grant vs. Francisco Trinaldo
- Jonathan Martinez vs. Aaron Phillips
- Nicolae Negumereanu vs. Ike Villanueva
- Grant Dawson vs. Ricky Glenn
- Jai Herbert vs. Khama Worthy