A lightweight clash between Nasrat Haqparast and John Makdessi has been booked for the upcoming UFC Fight Night card scheduled on Feb. 19.
Multiple sources confirmed the matchup to MMA Fighting on Monday after Makdessi first announced the fight via Twitter.
An 11-year veteran of the UFC, Makdessi has faced a lengthy list of top fighters over the years and is currently enjoying one of the strongest runs of his career with a 4-1 record over his past five fights. The Canadian fighter owns wins over the likes of Abel Trujillo and Ross Pearson in recent years and has remained a stalwart of the UFC roster with 18 fights on his résumé since joining the promotion in 2010.
As for Haqparast, he’ll make his return to action after suffering a decision loss to Dan Hooker in his last outing after enduring a tremendous amount of turmoil just getting to that fight. Haqparast had been training in the United States, however the sudden death of his mother forced him to return home to Germany, which then made it tough for him to return stateside for his fight with Hooker because of travel restrictions due to COVID-19.
Haqparast was eventually able to secure his visa in time to travel to the fight and arrived just hours before he was scheduled for the weigh-ins.
Now he’ll look forward to a less dramatic situation for his next fight as he aims to bounce back from the loss to Hooker, which came after he earned back-to-back wins over Rafa Garcia and Alex Munoz.
The upcoming UFC card on Feb. 19 is still awaiting a main event as well as a location where the show will take place.