Tim Kennedy vs. Yoel Romero set for UFC 178 in Las Vegas in September

This fall’s UFC 178 event has its second high-profile booking, this one in the middleweight division.

Tim Kennedy (18-4 MMA, 3-0 UFC) will face Yoel Romero (8-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) at the event. UFC officials announced the new pairing on Tuesday.

UFC 178 recently shifted from Toronto to Las Vegas with a Sept. 27 date. A venue, however, for the pay-per-view card has not been announced. The card will be headlined by a light heavyweight title rematch between champion Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson.

Kennedy is ranked No. 8, while Romero is No. 15 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings.

Kennedy has won four straight fights, including all three of his bouts in the UFC. In April, he dominated Michael Bisping over five rounds in the main event of the TUF Nations Finale. The former Strikeforce title challenger topped Roger Gracie in his UFC debut a year ago before knocking out Rafael Natal in an emotional main event at the UFC’s third “Fight for the Troops” show in November.

Romero has been on a run of his own since his lone pro loss, which came to Rafael Cavalcante in his only Strikeforce fight. Since moving to the UFC, he has knockouts of Cliff Starks, Ronny Mrakes and Derek Brunson, plus a decision win over Brad Tavares in April at UFC on FOX 11. His win over Starks was a “Knockout of the Night” bonus winner, and the victory over Brunson, which was a comeback after a rough first two rounds, was a “Fight of the Night” winner.

For more on UFC 178, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Tim Kennedy)