UFC president Dana White announced the current and former lightweight champions, Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira, will face each other in Abu Dhabi on October 21.
Makhachev captured the UFC lightweight belt at UFC 280 last October with a second-round submission of Oliveira, who lost his belt after coming in a half-pound overweight against Justin Gaethje and was trying to win the vacant title back against Makhachev.
It took only one title defense against UFC pound-for-pound king Alexander Volkanovski, who was attempting to capture a second belt, for Makhachev to move into the top 3 of the UFC's pound-for-pound rankings.
The lightweight division remains stacked with fan favorites and impressive fighters, but Oliveira got his rematch with a first-round TKO of Beneil Dariush last month. If he wins, Oliveira will become the first two-time UFC lightweight champion in the promotion's history. It would also tie him for third on the UFC's all-time wins list with 22, behind only Jim Miller's 25.
