The UFC is rescheduling a highly ranked middleweight contest between Jared Cannonier and Derek Brunson to UFC 271 on Feb. 12, multiple sources told ESPN.
The 185-pound bout was originally scheduled to.. take place at UFC 270 on Jan. 22, however the promotion wanted to have it on the same card as a middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker. That championship fight was recently added to UFC 271 on Feb. 12 in Houston.
Cannonier (14-5) and Brunson (23-7) are the Nos. 3 and 4 ranked middleweights in the UFC, respectively.
Cannonier, of Alaska, is 4-1 in his last five, with the only loss coming against a former champion in Whittaker. He is coming off a win over Kelvin Gastelum in August.
Brunson, of North Carolina, is riding a five-fight win streak, including main event showings against Edmen Shahbazyan, Kevin Holland and Darren Till.
The middleweight title fight between Adesanya and Whittaker is a rematch of a championship fight from 2019. Should anything happen to either Adesanya or Whittaker, it’s possible either Cannonier or Brunson would be called into the main event.