Ricardo Lamas came up short in his quest to become the UFC Featherweight Champion, and his road back to another title shot begins when he returns to action inside the Octagon in June.
Lamas (13-3, 4-1 UFC) will take on fellow featherweight contender Hacran Dias (21-2-1, 1-1 UFC) when the UFC debuts in San Antonio, Texas on June 28 for UFC Fight Night 44. UFC officials announced the bout on Sunday.
Lamas challenged Jose Aldo for the UFC Featherweight Championship at UFC 169 in February. He came up short, though, as Aldo dominated the fight and won by unanimous decision to retain the championship. Lamas earned the title shot on the strength of four consecutive wins following his move from 155 pounds to 145 pounds. He took home wins over Matt Grice, Cub Swanson, Hatsu Hioki and Erik Koch in succession to earn his title shot, but it also came following more than a year out of action. Lamas remains ranked at number three in the UFC’s featherweight rankings.
Dias has been out of action since May 2013 when he suffered only the second loss of his 24-fight career, a decision loss to Nik Lentz at UFC On FX 8 in Brazil. Dias has been scheduled for two fights since then. His scheduled fight with Rodrigo Damm at UFC Fight Night 29 was scrapped the week of the event as Damm fell ill with kidney stones, and Dias was forced out of a planned bout with Tatsuya Kawajiri at UFC Fight Night 34 in January due to an injury.
Prior to the loss to Lentz, Dias had won nine straight fights including a win over Iuri Alcantara in his UFC debut at UFC 147 in June 2012. Dias is also a training partner of Aldo.
It is unknown whether Lamas vs. Dias will be part of the main card or the preliminary card. The event takes place at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. The main card airs on FOX Sports 1 with prelims also airing on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass. A five-round featherweight bout between Cub Swanson and Jeremy Stephens headlines the event, which will be the second part of a UFC doubleheader on June 28 as UFC Fight Night 43 takes place in New Zealand that afternoon.
The current line-up for UFC Fight Night 44 includes:
- Cub Swanson vs. Jeremy Stephens
- Kelvin Gastelum vs. Nico Musoke
- Myles Jury vs. Abel Trujillo
- Ricardo Lamas vs. Hacran Dias
- Cezar Ferreira vs. Andrew Craig
- Clint Hester vs. Antonio Braga Neto
- Rani Yahya vs. Johnny Bedford
- Francisco Trevino vs. Joe Ellenberger
- Colton Smith vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira
- Marcelo Guimaraes vs. Andy Enz
- Oleksiy Oliynyk vs. Anthony Hamilton
- Sean Spencer vs. Luiz Dutra
