Randy Brown vs. Muslim Salikhov Booked for UFC 296 on Dec. 16

RandyBrown will fight MuslimSalikhov at #UFC296 on December 16th. (per Brown's Discord & @Full_Violence) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2023 pic.twitter.com/XO63nbtKDI

— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) October 9, 2023

The final Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view event of 2023 has picked up a potential banger of a welterweight matchup.

Randy Brown (17-5) and Muslim Salikhov (19-4) are reportedly booked to meet at UFC 296 in December. Brown broke the news of the booking on his Discord along with @Full_Violence on Twitter. “Rude Boy” had a four-fight win streak snapped at UFC 284 in February, thanks to a first-round submission by Jack Della Maddalena. “Rude Boy” has since regained some momentum with a decision victory over Wellington Turman in June.

Salikhov went on a five-fight win streak starting with his sophomore UFC outing which included wins over the likes of Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Francisco Trinaldo. However, “King of Kung Fu” has since gone 1-2 in his last three, including a decision loss against Nicolas Dalby in his most recent Octagon outing back in June.

UFC 296 takes place on Dec. 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While the full lineup has yet to be finalized, the main card already includes two title fights, with Leon Edwards defending his welterweight belt against multiple-time title challenger Colby Covington in the main event, and Alexandre Pantoja set to stake his flyweight strap against Brandon Royval.