Grant Dawson vs. Diego Ferreira joins UFC 311 lineup

Lightweights Grant Dawson and Diego Ferreira are expected to clash at the upcoming UFC 311 card, which takes place on Jan. 18 from the new Intuit Dome just outside Los Angeles.

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the matchup to MMA Fighting on Thursday. David Van Auken initially reported the matchup via Twitter.

With a 5-1 record in his past six fights, Dawson is steadily climbing up the lightweight ranks but now he’s looking for even stiffer competition when he returns in January. The American Top Team fighter most recently took out Rafa Garcia in October for his second win in a row overall.

Now he faces Ferreira, who comes into the fight off two wins in a row with knockouts over Michael Johnson and Mateusz Rebecki. Those wins stopped a three-fight skid for the veteran Brazilian, who first debuted with the UFC back in 2014.

Dawson vs. Ferreira is the latest addition to the growing UFC 311 card, which is still without a main event for now. Rumors have swirled that lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is expected to face Arman Tsarukyan in the headliner but nothing has been determined as of yet.

Mike Heck contributed to this report.