Anthony Hernandez will look to halt the momentum of another highly touted middleweight.
Hernandez (8-2-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) faces Albert Duraev (15-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) on April 9 at UFC 273, which doesn’t yet have an announced venue or location.
Two people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the matchup on Tuesday but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion hasn’t made an announcement.
Hernandez is coming off a massive upset, a second-round submission of ADCC champion Rodolfo Vieira at UFC 258 last February, which earned him a “Performance of the Night” bonus. The 28-year-old’s return was delayed when he was forced to withdraw from multiple bookings against Punahele Soriano in June, and most recently Dustin Stoltzfus in December.
Duraev, a “Dana White’s Contender Series” standout, made good in his promotional debut when he defeated Roman Kopylov by unanimous decision at UFC 267 in October. The former ACB middleweight champion has won his past 10 in a row.
With the addition, the UFC 273 lineup includes:
- Alexander Volkanovski vs. Chan Sung Jung – for featherweight title
- Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan – for bantamweight title
- Irene Aldana vs. Aspen Ladd
- Pat Sabatini vs. Gavin Tucker
- Mickey Gall vs. Mike Malott
- Mackenzie Dern vs. Tecia Torres
- Kelvin Gastelum vs. Nassourdine Imavov
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Marcin Tybura
- Julio Arce vs. Daniel Santos
- Mark Madsen vs. Vinc Pichel
- Chris Curtis vs. Dricus Du Plessis
- Albert Duraev vs. Anthony Hernandez
