ADCC Champion Rodolfo Vieira to Lock Horns with Saparbek Safarov at UFC 248

Decorated grappler Rodolfo Vieira will square off against Saparbek Safarov at UFC 248.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the middleweight bout on Tuesday. UFC 248 takes place on March 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and features a strawweight title tilt between Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

A former ADCC gold medalist and five-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, Vieira has finished all six of his MMA opponents thus far. “The Black Belt Hunter” made his Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 156, where he submitted Oskar Piechota in the second round on Aug. 10.

After losing to Gian Villante and Tyson Pedro in his first two Octagon appearances, Safarov scored his first triumph within the Las Vegas-based promotion with a unanimous verdict against Nicolae Negumereanu at UFC Fight Night 147. The 33-year-old Dagestani owns a 9-2 professional mark overall.