A lightweight fight between top 15 contenders Carlos Diego Ferreira and Gregor Gillespie has been announced for UFC On ESPN 24 on May 8th.
Ferreira was left disappointed in February when he came up on the wrong end of a split decision loss against Beneil Dariush.
That ended a four-year unbeaten stretch for the 36-year-old Ferreira during which he had racked up six wins in the Octagon over the likes of Rustam Khabilov, Mairbek Tiasumov and then former champion Anthony Pettis, who he submitted in the second round.
Gillespie can no doubt relate to that as he held a perfect 13-0 record heading into his last fight against Kevin Lee, but suffered a first round head kick KO loss that night.
It’s now been close to a year-and-a-half since that loss and Gillespie now makes his comeback hoping to rediscover the form that saw him TKO the likes of Jordan Rinaldi and Yancy Medeiros in the UFC, while also submitting Vinc Pichel.
Ferreira vs. Gillespie joins a UFC On ESPN 24 card that will be headlined by the return of former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw against one of the division’s leading contenders Cory Sandhagen, while Diego Sanchez’s retirement bout comes against Donald Cerrone and Neil Magny fights Geoff Neal.