On Sunday afternoon the UFC announced a lightweight matchup between Edson Barboza and Michael Johnson has officially been booked for the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 61 in February.

Johnson (15-8), the runner-up on season 12 of the The Ultimate Fighter, has not been seen inside the Octagon since his unanimous decision win over Melvin Guillard in their co-main event battle at UFC Fight Night 37 in March. He was originally scheduled to face Josh Thomson at UFC on FOX 12 before an injury forced him out of the bed. Prior to his win over Guillard, ‘The Menace’ picked up a violent second round knockout over Gleison Tibau at UFC 167 in November 2013. He will enter this bout with nine career knockout wins and nine career stoppage wins, including seven career knockouts, and  UFC record of 7-4.

Barboza (15-2) will be looking to extend his win streak to three. In his most recent outing, ‘Junior’ earned a dominant decision win over Bobby Green at UFC Fight Night 57 in November. Prior to this win, the Brazilian walked away with a first round body kick knockout over Evan Dunham at UFC Fight Night 45 in July. He will enter this bout with 11 career stoppage wins, including nine by way of knockout, and a UFC record of 9-2.

UFC Fight Night 61 is currently schedule to take place on February  22 at Gigantinho Gymnasium in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.  A light heavyweight matchup between former champion Rashad Evans and former title contender Glover Teixeira will serve as the main event.

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José began his career as a mixed martial arts journalist while still enrolled at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University. Since graduating in May 2013, he has attended dozens of high profile UFC fight cards as a credentialed member of the media, providing live cage side coverage through his articles and videos. His work has appeared on UFC.com, ArizonaSports.com and AZCentral. He is also currently one of the main contributors on Power MMA Show at Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, one of the first all MMA radio shows on a major radio station.