Chad Mendes vs. Ricardo Lamas featherweight bout headlines UFC Fight Night 63

Chad Mendes

The UFC’s return to Virginia after nearly three years has its main event as top featherweights Chad Mendes and Ricardo Lamas meet at UFC Fight Night 63 on April 4.

Lamas (15-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC), ranked No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings, confirmed the fight booking with No. 2 Mendes (16-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) at tonight’s UFC Fight Night 59 event in Boston.

Both men are former 145-pound title challengers and are eager to earn another shot at the championship currently held by Jose Aldo.

Mendes gave “Scarface” arguably the most competitive fight of his title reign at UFC 179 in October when he pushed Aldo for five rounds in MMAjunkie’s 2014 “Fight of the Year.”

It was his second failed title bid against Aldo, but given the entertaining nature of the second contest, another title shot is certainly within reach.

He’ll have to go through Lamas to get it, though, and “The Bully” is in the hunt his own second opportunity at the title. He lost a lopsided decision to Aldo at UFC 169 in February, but has rebounded with strong performances against Dennis Bermudez and Hacran Dias.

Lamas will look to make it three consecutive wins against Mendes in the FOX Sports 1-televised headliner at Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va.

With the announcement, UFC Fight Night 63 card now includes:

• Chad Mendes vs. Ricardo Lamas
• Diego Ferreira vs. Dustin Poirier

For more on UFC Fight Night 63, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.