UFC announces two title fights featuring challengers Alex Pereira and Colby Covington

​Joining the heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic headlining UFC 295 in New York City, Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira are set to do battle for the vacant light heavyweight title. 

Prochazka hasn't fought since he captured light heavyweight gold over Glover Teixeira in June 2022 due to injury, but he is keen on getting his belt back. Pereira, on the other hand, is seeking his second title in as many weight classes after capturing middleweight gold in Madison Square Garden in 2022. 

White called them the "most exciting" and "scariest" fighters on the roster, respectively, so it is sure to bring the New York City crowd to its feet.

A month later, the Octagon returns to Las Vegas for UFC 296. Welterweight champion Leon Edwards makes his second defence of his title against cardio king Colby Covington.

Edwards is coming off back-to-back wins over Kamaru Usman, who beat Covington twice when he was champ. Other than Usman, though, Covington has relatively dominated each of his opponents. 

Joining those two in Las Vegas is an exciting flyweight title bout between newly minted champion Alexandre Pantoja makes his first title defence against Brandon Royval. 

Pantoja is coming off a strong performance in which he wrested the belt away from Mexico's Brandon Moreno, while Royval rides a 3-fight winning streak. The fight is a rematch of their bout from August 2021 in which Pantoja submitted Royval in the second round. 

White was sure to emphasize the fact that he and the matchmakers aren't finished fleshing out the last two pay-per-view cards of the year just yet, so stay tuned for updates.

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