Norman Parke is set to return to the 3Arena for his next UFC bout.
The Antrim native has been matched up against Iranian fighter Reza Madadi at UFC Fight Night 77 on October 24.
Parke (20-4-1) enters into this fight off the back of back-to-back split decision losses which came at the hands of Brazilian duo Gleison Tibau and Francisco Trinaldo respectively. Prior to the Tibau defeat at UFC Boston, the Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes winner had been unbeaten in five years.
Parke returns to Dublin after scoring a phenomenal TKO victory over Naoyuki Kotani on the UFC Dublin card last year, headlined by Conor McGregor vs Diego Brandao.
Madadi (13-3) returns to the Octagon for the first time since April 2013. His career had been put on hold while he served a 14-month prison sentence for burglary, which he had been released from earlier this year.
The 37-year-old Iranian is a team-mate of UFC light-heavyweight title challenger Alexander Gustafsson and holds an impressive submission victory over current fifth-ranked lightweight Michael Johnson.
So far, four fights have been confirmed for UFC Dublin, with more expected to be announced soon. Here’s what the event looks like at the time of writing.
Joseph Duffy vs. Dustin Poirier
Norman Parke vs. Reza Madadi
Cathal Pendred vs. Tom Breese
Scott Askham vs. Krzysztof Jotko
Hat-tip to the Sun
