UFC's Seattle return has its main event. Israel Adesanya vs. Joe Pyfer will headline UFC Fight Night on March 28.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the fight, which streams exclusively on Paramount+, on Tuesday via Instagram. The card will also feature a pivotal women's flyweight showdown between Alexa Grasso and Maycee Barber.
Former UFC middleweight champion Adesanya looks to course correct amid his first losing streak. "The Last Stylebender" finds himself on a three-fight skid after knocking out current light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira to reclaim the 185-pound title. Adesanya subsequently lost the title to Sean Strickland, before being finished by Dricus du Plessis and Nassourdine Imavov.
Pyfer has made progress in rehabilitating his image. His reputation as an elite prospect took a hit after losing to Jack Hermansson in Pyfer's first main event. Since then, he's won three consecutive fights. A decision win over Kelvin Gastelum -- who gave Adesanya the most exciting fight of his career -- is sandwiched between Performance of the Night wins over Marc-Andre Barriault and Abus Magomedov.
UFC visited Seattle last February, a card headlined by Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong. It marked the first time the promotion had visited the Emerald City in 12 years. Afterwards, White promised the promotion would be back soon.
"Let me tell you what, America, Seattle is an awesome city," White said during a post-fight press conference in February. "The people here are amazing. We were walking around the area, lots of different people from everywhere. The shops they have here, the boutiques, the restaurants, the hotels, I forgot how awesome Seattle is. I'm so glad we came back to Seattle."
White revealed that last year's sellout event at Climate Pledge Arena broke the UFC's North American live gate record for Fight Nights. The 18,000 attendees generated $3.84 million in revenue.
"We will not wait 10 years to come back here," White said.
The promotion has also booked former UFC women's flyweight champion Grasso against rising contender Barber. Grasso, who famously dethroned Valentina Shevchenko in the first of their three fights, is coming off a last to Natalia Silva. Barber is on a seven fight win streak, most recently beating Karine Silva at UFC 323.
