Daniel Cormier's light heavyweight debut will serve as the main event of UFC 170 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner and #3 ranked UFC heavyweight will fight Rashad Evans on February 22nd, as confirmed earlier this evening on the UFC Fight Night 33 pre-fight show:
Cormier (13-0) has spent his entire career at heavyweight, where he's clearly one of the best in the business. His two fights in the UFC have ended in fairly comfortable decision wins over Frank Mir and Roy Nelson. The former U.S Olympian (in freestyle wrestling) had teased a move to 205 lbs even before the Nelson bout, and now we'll get to see what he's like in a new weight class, and whether or not he's an immediate contender in the division.
Evans (19-3-1) dominated Chael Sonnen en route to a 1st round TKO victory in the co-main event of UFC 167. It's by far one of Rashad's better showings over the past 2 years. The former UFC light heavyweight champion and TUF 2 heavyweight winner also has a split decision win over Dan Henderson this year, but also a loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Evans unsuccessfully tried to recapture the LHW belt currently held by Jon Jones at UFC 145. Presently, he's ranked #3 in the UFC's official divisional rankings.
As mentioned on the broadcast, this will be a five round main event.
UFC 170 also features a lightweight bout between Rafael dos Anjos and Rustam Khabilov. More fights will be announced soon.