Christian Leroy Duncan draws Claudio Ribeiro for UFC Vegas 87

English middleweight striker Christian Leroy Duncan will return to action at the UFC Apex on March 2 as he bids to claim back-to-back victories in the UFC for the first time.

Former Cage Warriors middleweight champion Duncan endured a stop-start beginning to his UFC career, with his first Octagon appearance delivering a win, but in less-than-satisfactory circumstances as an early injury to Dusko Todorovic in London deprived fans the chance to see “CLD’s” striking skills on his UFC debut. Duncan then dropped a unanimous decision to Armen Petrosyan at the UFC Apex.

Duncan bounced back with an excellent display to defeat Denis Tiuliulin via second-round TKO as the protege of UK MMA pioneer Mark Weir showcased some of his striking arsenal in Las Vegas.

Now Duncan has been booked to return to Sin City, with Brazilian knockout artist Claudio Ribeira providing the opposition.

Ribeiro earnedhis spot on the UFC roster via Dana White’s Contender Series, thanks to a 25-second knockout of Ivan Valanzuela in August 2022, but the Sao Paulo native drew a tough debut assignment against hard-hitting Abdul Razak Alhassen, who finished him with strikes in the second round.

Ribeiro bounced back with a second-round ground-and-pound stoppage of Joseph Holmes last May, but a head-kick knockout loss to Roman Kopylov has him heading into his March 2 meeting with Duncan knowing that a strong performance is a must.

UFC Vegas 87: Confirmed fights

• Alex Perez vs. Muhammad Mokaev
• Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Shamil Gaziev
• Eryk Anders vs. Jamie Pickett
• Joel Alvarez vs. Ludovit Klein
• Vinicius Oliveira vs. Yanis Ghemmouri
• Javid Basharat vs. Aiemann Zahabi
• Mohammad Yayha vs. Brendon Marotte
• Loik Radzhabov vs. Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady
• Julia Polastri vs. Josefine Knutsson
• Vitor Petrino vs. Tyson Pedro
• Matt Schnell vs. Steve Erczeg
• Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Claudio Ribeiro