UFC Raleigh Update: Rafael dos Anjos Agrees to Face Michael Chiesa

Breaking: Rafael dos Anjos vs. Michael Chiesa agreed to for UFC Fight Night on Jan. 25 in Raleigh, North Carolina, per sources.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) November 21, 2019

Fans in North Carolina will be in for quite a treat in January, as the Ultimate Fighting Championship has added a big matchup to the Raleigh card.

ESPN announced on Thursday that Rafael dos Anjos has agreed to meet Michael Chiesa, presumably at welterweight, at the upcoming Fight Night card in Raleigh on Jan. 25. It will be headlined by a major heavyweight matchup between Curtis Blaydes and Junior dos Santos, while Frankie Edgar will make the drop to bantamweight in the co-main event against ranked contender Cory Sandhagen.

Dos Anjos last competed at UFC on ESPN 4 in July, where he dropped a decision over five rounds to Leon Edwards. Dating back to 2018, the Brazilian has lost three five-round decisions to Colby Covington, Kamaru Usman and Edwards, while tapping out Kevin Lee with an arm-triangle choke in May. The former lightweight king made a statement by rattling off three wins at his new division of welterweight over Tarec Saffiedine, Neil Magny and former welterweight champ Robbie Lawler before encountering Covington for the interim welterweight strap.

His opponent, Chiesa, recently moved up to 170 pounds after encountering difficulty with his weight cut. The move has largely proved successful, submitting Carlos Condit in December and taking a decision over Diego Sanchez in July. By tapping Condit, all of Chiesa's career stoppage victories have still come by submission, with no knockouts or technical knockouts on his ledger. Chiesa has never lost on the scorecards in his career.

UFC Fight Night Raleigh will take place on Jan. 25 at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, where it will be headlined by a heavyweight battle between Curtis Blaydes and Junior dos Santos. Also appearing on the card will be Frankie Edgar making his bantamweight debut against Cory Sandhagen.