Myles Jury vs. Takanori Gomi set for UFC Fight Night in Japan
It appears Nate Diaz is standing firm and won't be accepting the challenge to face Myles Jury in a lightweight bout later this year, but the upstart contender has drawn the name of a legend instead.
Former PRIDE champion Takanori Gomi will face Jury at the upcoming UFC Fight Night card in Japan on September 20 in a bout that will likely serve as the co-main event of the evening. Sources close to the contest confirmed the new bout to FOX Sports with verbal agreements in place for the matchup.
With a perfect 14-0 record, Jury has been making a fast rise up the lightweight rankings with recent wins over names such as Michael Johnson, Ramsey Nijem and Diego Sanchez. The San Diego based fighter was offered Diaz a week or so ago, but the wayward Ultimate Fighter winner turned down the fight in favor of holding out for a more lucrative contract.
Now Jury will travel to Japan to face one of the lightweight division's biggest icons.
Takanori Gomi (35-9, 1 NC) was considered for several years to be the best fighter in the weight class while he was wrecking fighters in PRIDE while competing in Japan. He was a prolific knockout artist, who was always one punch away from separating his opponents from consciousness.
While Gomi has faced some ups and downs since coming to the UFC, recently he's gone 3-1 over his last four fights with the lone loss coming a very controversial decision to Diego Sanchez in 2013. Now Gomi will go home again for his next fight as he faces Jury in a featured bout on the upcoming UFC Fight Night card in Japan.
