UFC’s first trip to France has added a major middleweight bout, as former champion Robert Whittaker will take on Marvin Vettori at UFC Paris on Sept. 3, the promotion announced Tuesday.
This bout was originally scheduled for UFC 275 on June 11 in Singapore but was postponed due to a Whittaker injury.
ESPN has Whittaker ranked No. 2 and Vettori ranked No. 4 in the world at middleweight.
Whittaker (23-6) had a three-fight winning streak snapped by champion Israel Adesanya in a title fight at UFC 271 in February. The New Zealand-born Australia resident has only lost to Adesanya, in a pair of title fights, since 2014. Whittaker, 31, held the UFC middleweight title from 2017 to 2019.
Vettori (18-5-1), 28, has won six of his last seven fights, most recently a unanimous decision win over Paulo Costa in October. The Italy native has only lost to one man — Adesanya twice — since 2016 and has an 8-3-1 UFC record.
UFC Paris is expected to be headlined by a heavyweight bout between former interim champion Ciryl Gane, a France native, and popular Aussie slugger Tai Tuivasa, officials told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto earlier this month.