Joe Lauzon meets Michael Chiesa at UFC Fight Night 50 in Connecticut

The UFC’s return to Connecticut after a long layoff has its first bout.

Michael Chiesa (11-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) will meet Joe Lauzon (23-9 MMA, 10-6 UFC) in a lightweight bout at UFC Fight Night 50 in early September. UFC officials announced the new bout late Tuesday night.

UFC Fight Night 50 takes place at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Conn. It will be a rare Friday night show for the UFC – and falls on the same night as Bellator 123 in nearby Uncasville, less than 10 miles away.

The UFC has been to Connecticut four times in the past, all at Mohegan Sun Arena, where Bellator 123 takes place. But it will have been nearly nine years since the UFC visited the state.

Chiesa has won back-to-back fights with a “Submission of the Night” win over Colton Smith this past November and a decision victory over Francisco Trinaldo this past month at UFC 173. That has the “TUF 15? winner back on track after the first loss of his pro career, a submission setback to Jorge Masvidal nearly a year ago.

Lauzon this past December took a unanimous decision from Mac Danzig to snap a two-fight skid that saw him drop decisions to Jim Miller and Michael Johnson. The 12-time fight-night bonus winner hasn’t won a bonus since December 2012, his “Fight of the Night” loss to Miller, a “Fight of the Year” candidate.

For more on UFC Fight Night 50 in Connecticut, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Joe Lauzon)