Welterweight fight confirmed for UFC 264 at T-Mobile Arena

By Adam Hill

Las Vegas Review-Journal

4 years ago

Tyron Woodley of the United States, left, fights Stephen Thompson of the United States during t ... — Tyron Woodley of the United States, left, fights Stephen Thompson of the United States during their welterweight title bout at UFC 209 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, March 4, 2017. Woodley defeated Thompson via majority decision. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphoto

A rumored matchup of former welterweight title challengers is now official for UFC 264 on July 10 at T-Mobile Arena, people close to the organization confirmed Wednesday.

Stephen Thompson will fight Gilbert Burns as part of a pay-per-view event headlined by the third fight between Dustin Poirier and former two-division champion Conor McGregor.

Burns had a six-fight winning streak snapped when he was knocked out by champion Kamaru Usman in a February title bout in front of no fans at the Apex. The fight with Thompson is expected to be in front of a sold-out crowd.

Thompson fought then-champion Tyron Woodley to a draw at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2016, then dropped a majority decision in a rematch in 2017 at T-Mobile Arena. He dropped two of his next three after the championship fights, but has won two in a row to get back in the title picture.

A win over Burns would solidify his place in that conversation.

Tickets for the event went on sale April 16 and sold out “in seconds,” according to UFC president Dana White.

The last UFC event at T-Mobile Arena was March 7, 2020.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.