UFC Fight Night 38 is expected to take place on March 23, 2014, inside the Nelio Dias Gymnasium in Natal, Brazil, with a middleweight match-up pitting Ronny Markes against Thiago Santos. MMA Fighting (via MMA Informative) brought word of the booking earlier today.
Markes (14-2) watched his seven-fight winning streak go up in smoke at the hands of Yoel Romero, who had the Brazilian staring up at the lights in their UFC Fight Night 31 scrap last November. The loss was just the second of his career and his first under the ZUFFA banner.
Onward and upward.
Santos (8-2) is also coming off a loss, after Cezar Ferreira strangled him into submission at UFC 163 last August. This will be just the second appearance for "Marreta" inside the Octagon and depending on how well he performs against Markes, quite possibly his last.
Time will tell.
In addition to a light heavyweight bangfest between Fabio Maldonado and Gian Villante, UFC Fight Night 38 is also expected to feature a middleweight mash-up pitting C.B. Dollaway against the aforementioned Cezar Ferreira in a battle of Ultimate Fighter (TUF) grads.
Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more details on this still-developing fight card, as they become available.