Devin Clark, William Knight Meet at Heavyweight at UFC on ESPN 34 on April 16

It’s no April Fools’ joke, Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter William Knight is officially moving to heavyweight.

Late Thursday night, MMA Junkie reported that Knight (11-3) would be stepping up to the heavyweight division on April 16. At UFC on ESPN 34, he will be taking on fellow former light heavyweight Devin Clark (12-6) inside of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. News of this short-notice booking has since been confirmed by other outlets as well as Knight himself on Instagram.

Knight last competed in February, where he dropped a decision to Maxim Grishin after missing weight by 12 pounds to make the matchup a de facto heavyweight contest. His weight miss clocked in as the largest among all bouts that have taken place inside the Octagon. The defeat to Grishin ended a two-fight win streak with a knockout of Fabio Cherant and a decision over Alonzo Menifield. Win or lose, every career bout for “Knightmare” has ended by knockout or decision, without a submission on his ledger.

While Knight holds 82% of his victories by knockout, his opponent Clark only possesses a finish rate of 33%. The former middleweight will also be taking his first trip up to the 266-pound capped category, and he will be looking to put an end to a two-bout skid. In late 2020, Anthony Smith tapped him out with a triangle choke, and he succumbed to a decision setback about 10 months later to Ion Cutelaba. “Brown Bears” celebrates victories over names including the aforementioned Menifield, Mike Rodriguez and Darko Stosic throughout a career that began in 2013, almost five years before Knight first turned pro.

The jam-packed UFC on ESPN 34 fight card on April 16 will be staged inside of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and a high-stakes welterweight rematch draws top billing. Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad will run it back after first meeting in 2016, with Luque claiming the win by knockout in 79 seconds. The co-headliner comes in the form of a middleweight stylistic clash when Uriah Hall takes on Andre Muniz.