Matt Brown will get to compete in his home state for the first time since 2014.
Brown (23-18 MMA, 16-12 UFC) meets Bryan Barberena (16-8 MMA, 7-6 UFC) at a March 26 UFC Fight Night event at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The event will air on ESPN.
A person with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the booking with MMA Junkie following an initial report by <a href=”
Brown and Barberena originally were scheduled to face off at UFC on ESPN 31 in December, but Brown was forced to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19. Barberena ended up facing newcomer Darian Weeks, instead, and beat him by unanimous decision.
Brown most recently fought at UFC on ESPN 25 in June and knocked out Dhiego Lima in the second round to earn a Performance of the Night bonus. Brown, whose past three wins have come by knockout, currently is tied at No. 2 for most finishes by strikes in UFC history behind Derrick Lewis, who recently surpassed him when he finished Chris Daukaus in December.
With the addition, the UFC Columbus lineup includes:
Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic
Amanda Ribas vs. Michelle Waterson
Sara McMann vs. Karol Rosa
Tucker Lutz vs. Seungwoo Choi
Askar Askarov vs. Kai Kara-France
Danaa Batgerel vs. Montel Jackson
Bryan Barberena vs. Matt Brown