Ask and you shall receive.
It looks like the UFC heard Dan Ige’s recent callout and obliged, booking him against former two-division Bellator champion Patricio Freire for UFC 318 – a pay-per-view event that’s set to go down July 19 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. MMA Junkie confirmed the news with two sources following a report from Super Lutas on Tuesday.
Both Ige (19-9 MMA, 11-8 UFC) and Freire (36-8 MMA, 0-1 UFC) fought at UFC 314 in April in different bouts. Ige stopped fellow veteran Sean Woodson, while Freire lost his UFC debut in a unanimous decision against Yair Rodriguez.
With the victory, Ige was able to snap a two-fight losing skid that had him dropping decisions against top contenders Diego Lopes and Lerone Murphy. On the other hand, Freire, who’s arguably the most successful fighter in Bellator history, fell into a 1-3 rut. Prior to debuting for the UFC, “Pitbull” stopped Jeremy Kennedy and lost to Chihiro Suzuki and Sergio Pettis.
Current UFC 318 lineup
Max Holloway vs. Dustin PoirierBrendan Allen vs. Marvin VettoriIslam Dulatov vs. Adam FugittAmanda Ribas vs. Tabatha RicciPatricio Freire vs. Dan IgeIkram Aliskerov vs. Brunno FerreiraNeil Magny vs. Gunnar NelsonVinicius Oliveira vs. Kyler PhillipsNicolle Caliari vs. Carli JudiceJimmy Crute vs. Marcin PrachnioFrancisco Prado vs. Nikolay VeretennikovAteba Gautier vs. Robert Valentin
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dan Ige vs. Patricio Freire added to UFC 318 in New Orleans
