A light heavyweight fight between Ryan Bader and Ilir Latifi has been announced for an upcoming UFC Fight Night event in Hamburg, Germany on September 3rd.
Bader had been on the verge of a title shot at the start of the year after compiling five wins in a row, but a first round KO loss to Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson at UFC On FOX 18 in January nixed that, and so the 32 year-old is now in the process of picking himself up, dusting himself off, and getting back into the Octagon in the hopes of climbing back up the ladder.
In his way stands Sweden’s Latifi who initially entered the UFC as a late replacement, but has stuck around and compiled a 5-2 record along the way, including a three-fight winning streak heading into this fight.
That’s left the 32 year-old ranked at No.13 in the light heavyweight division, but with the biggest wins of his UFC run so far being against the likes of Gianna Villante and Cyrille Diabate, former TUF winner Bader is a big step up in competition for ‘The Sledgehammer’.
So far Bader Vs Latifi is the only fight announced for the show in Hamburg, which will take place a week prior to UFC 203.
