Demetrious Johnson will put the UFC flyweight title on the line against Henry Cejudo at UFC 227 on Aug. 4 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, the company announced Saturday.
It will be the second fight between the two. Johnson beat Cejudo via first-round TKO at UFC 197 in April 2016.
Johnson's victory was his eighth successful title defense. Since then, he beat Tim Elliott, Wilson Reis and Ray Borg. Cejudo followed up with a loss to Joseph Benavidez but climbed back up the flyweight rankings with wins over Reis and Sergio Pettis.
MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani reported Wednesday that UFC was closing in on Cejudo as Johnson's next opponent after ruling out a potential bout between Johnson and bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw. According to Helwani, Jussier Formiga was also considered as a challenger at UFC 227.
Should Johnson defeat Cejudo again, he may already have another fighter lining up for the flyweight championship. Pettis was victorious over Benavidez on the UFC 225 preliminary card Saturday night and didn't waste any time angling for his next fight, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Heidi Fang:
Pettis would represent a fresh test for Johnson, which is becoming increasingly difficult for UFC to find with the way he has dominated the flyweight division.
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