Evan Dunham vs. Mairbek Taisumov booked for UFC 223 in Brooklyn

The UFC’s return to Brooklyn in April is another step closer to complete with the addition of a new lightweight bout.

Evan Dunham (18-6-1 MMA, 11-6-1 UFC) is set to take on Mairbek Taisumov (27-5 MMA, 6-1 UFC) at UFC 223. UFC officials announced the booking today following an initial report from Long Island newspaper Newsday.

UFC 223 will take place April 7 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The main card will air on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Dunham is unbeaten in his past five fights, though he had to settle for a majority draw with Beneil Dariush in his most recent outing at uFC 216 this past October. Prior to that, he had four straight decision wins over Rodrigo Damm, Ross Pearson, Joe Lauzon and Rick Glenn to get back on track after a rough patch that saw him drop four of five fights.

Taisumov has won five in a row, all by knockout, and has three straight $50,000 fight-night bonuses in that run. After a loss to Michel Prazeres nearly four years ago, he has finishes of Marcin Bandel, Anthony Christodoulou, Alan Patrick, Damir Hadzovic and Felipe Silva. The latter came in September of this past year after a layoff of nearly a year and a half. The bout with Dunham will be just the second time Taisumov will have fought in the United States.

The latest UFC 223 lineup includes:

• Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov – for lightweight title
• Champ Rose Namajunas vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk – for women’s strawweight title
• Calvin Kattar vs. Renato Moicano
• Michael Chiesa vs. Anthony Pettis
• Paul Felder vs. Al Iaquinta
• Felice Herrig vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
• Ray Borg vs. Brandon Moreno
• Chris Gruetzemacher vs. Joe Lauzon
• Ashlee Evans-Smith vs. Bec Rawlings
• Alex Caceres vs. Artem Lobov
• Kyle Bochniak vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov
• Evan Dunham vs. Mairbek Taisumov

For more on UFC 223, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.