Carlos Felipe (left) and Justin Tafa will battle to see who improves to 2-1 in the UFC. | Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
The UFC is starting to build its 2021 schedule, and the promotion has just added a heavyweight clash between Justin Tafa and Carlos Felipe to a Jan. 16 Fight Night event, multiple people with knowledge of the booking told MMA Fighting. Combate first reported the matchup.
The UFC has yet to announce the headliner and exact location for the show. A previously reported bantamweight bout between Ricky Simon and Brian Kelleher is also booked for the same night.
Tafa (4-1) hasn’t fought since February, when he finished Juan Adams in under two minutes at UFC 247 in Houston. He bounced back to the winning column after losing to Yorgan De Castro in his octagon debut four months prior.
Felipe (9-1) also came up short in his first UFC bout, dropping a decision to Sergey Spivak on Fight Island in July. But he had his hands raised less than three months later in Abu Dhabi, winning a decision over De Castro.