Cub Swanson says he's headlining UFC Fight Night 123 against Brian Ortega

UFC Fight Night 123 in California appears to have its headliner.

Cub Swanson (25-7 MMA, 10-3 UFC) today announced he’s fighting undefeated Brian Ortega (12-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) at the December event. His announcement follows an initial report from Farah Hannoun (via Instagram):

Main Event vs Brian Ortega December 9th UFC Fight Night in Fresno, CA

A post shared by Cub Swanson (@cubswanson) on Oct 1, 2017 at 10:04pm PDT

UFC officials haven’t made a formal announcement.

UFC Fight Night 123 takes place Dec. 9 at Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. The event airs on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass, though the full fight card and bout order haven’t been finalized.

Swanson is No. 6 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings, and Ortega is No. 7.

Swanson, a 33-year-old Californian, looks for his fifth straight victory following decision wins over Hacran Dias, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Dooho Choi and Artem Lobov. The latest wins – over Choi and Lobov – earned “Fight of the Night” honors (and the Choi fight was a popular “Fight of the Year” pick in 2016). Swanson’s been out of action since his April main-event win over Lobov after breaking a hand for the 10th time in his eight-year career.

He now fights Ortega, a 26-year-old who also calls California home. The undefeated up-and-comer and former RFA champ is 4-0 in the UFC (with one no-contest/overturned win due to a 2014 failed drug test). In his most recent fight, he picked up his second “Fight of the Night” award with a submission victory over Renato Moicano at UFC 214 in July. All of his UFC victories have come via stoppage – all in the third round.

The latest UFC Fight Night 123 card includes:

• Brian Ortega vs. Cub Swanson
• Liz Carmouche vs. Alexis Davis
• Scott Holtzman vs. Darrell Horcher
• Eryk Anders vs. John Phillips
• Trevin Giles vs. Antonio Braga Neto
• Carls John de Tomas vs. Alex Perez

For more on UFC Fight Night 123, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.