UFC 335 is official for December 12 in Las Vegas, and Dana White has filled out the top of the card. The BMF title fight between Charles Oliveira and Diego Lopes headlines, with Sergei Pavlovich and Alex Pereira now confirmed as the co-main event, a booking reported by both Bloody Elbow and Cageside Press.
Pereira stays at heavyweight rather than dropping back down, taking on Pavlovich in a clash of ranked contenders. Pereira sits at number three in the light heavyweight rankings and is coming off a June 14 loss to Ciryl Gane by knockout in the second round. Pavlovich is ranked third at heavyweight and enters off a first round knockout of Tallison Teixeira on May 30. Our Elo numbers have Pereira at 1571 across ten tracked bouts and Pavlovich at 1542 across seven, a tight gap befitting a fight this dangerous on paper.
The bigger subplot is what did not get announced. According to MMA Mania, a middleweight title fight was in negotiations before falling through, and current champion Sean Strickland was reportedly ready to go. Strickland is coming off a split decision win over Khamzat Chimaev back in May and carries an 1548 Elo rating over nine bouts. Mania's Alex Behunin told Yahoo Sports MMA that Strickland had zero injuries from the crash, saying the promotion simply went in a different direction.
That leaves the title picture at 185 pounds unresolved for now, with Strickland on the sidelines for this card despite being apparently available. Lopes, ranked second at featherweight and sporting a 1576 Elo over ten bouts, sits at +160 with a 36 percent model lean, setting up a live opening round of betting interest heading into December.