Jason High vs. Estevan Payan, plus eight-man lightweight tourney field set for WSOF 25

Luis Palomino

The matchups are in place for next month’s one-night, eight-man lightweight tournament at WSOF 25, which will decide the next title challenger for champ Justin Gaethje’s title.

Luis Palomino (23-11) will take on former title challenger Rich Patishnock (6-2), and the winner of that fight will meet the winner of Brian Foster (22-7) vs. Joao Zeferino (18-6).

On the other side of the bracket, Brian Cobb (20-8) takes on Mike Ricci (10-4), and Islam Mamedov (12-1) meets Jorge Patino (37-15-2).

WSOF officials announced the pairings during Saturday night’s broadcast of WSOF 24 in Connecticut. WSOF 25 takes place Nov. 20 at Comerica Theatre in Phoenix. The main card will air on NBCSN following prelims on MMAjunkie.

The WSOF initially planned to hold the eight-man tournament in Seattle, but regulatory restrictions forced the promotion to move WSOF 25 to Arizona.

The tournament final will be the card’s main event. In addition, WSOF announced a co-main event lightweight fight between Jason High (18-5) and Estevan Payan (16-8).

A tournament win for Palomino would mean champ Gaethje (15-0) would fight him for a third time. Gaethje has stopped “Baboon” twice already this year in title fights, but both are considered among the year’s best fights.

The WSOF 25 lineup includes:

• opponent TBA vs. opponent TBA – lightweight tournament final
• Jason High vs. Estevan Payan
• Luis Palomino vs. Richard Patishnock – lightweight tournament quarterfinal
• Brian Foster vs. Joao Zeferino – lightweight tournament quarterfinal
• Brian Cobb vs. Mike Ricci – lightweight tournament quarterfinal
• Islam Mamedov vs. Jorge Patino – lightweight tournament quarterfinal

For more on WSOF 25, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.