Luke Jumeau vs. Daichi Abe booked for UFC 221 in Perth

Next month’s nearly-full UFC 221 lineup in Australia has a new welterweight addition.

It features Luke Jumeau (12-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) vs. Daichi Abe (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), officials recently announced (via Twitter):

UFC 221 takes place Feb. 10 at Perth Arena in Perth in Western Australia. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass, though the full fight card and bout order haven’t been finalized.

Jumeau looks to rebound from a September decision loss to Shinsho Anzai. Prior to the setback, the 29-year-old New Zealander won seven straight fights, which included a UFC-debut win over Dominique Steele via unanimous decision. A fight prior, he caught the attention of UFC matchmakers and earned a deal with a TKO victory over former UFC fighter Vik Grujic at a regional show in Australia.

He now meets undefeated Abe, a 26-year-old Japanese fighter who recently made his promotional debut and scored a unanimous-decision victory over Hyun Gyu Lim at a September event in Japaan. Abe, who went 5-0 with four knockouts prior to his UFC debut, scored a small upset in that fight, which opened the card.

With the addition, the latest UFC 221 lineup now includes:

• Champ Robert Whittaker vs. Luke Rockhold – for middleweight title
• Tyson Pedro vs. Saparbek Safarov
• Jussier Formiga vs. Ben Nguyen
• Curtis Blaydes vs. Mark Hunt
• Damien Brown vs. “Maestro” Dong Hyun Kim
• Teruto Ishihara vs. Jose Quinonez
• Mizuto Hirota vs. Ross Pearson
• Israel Adesanya vs. Rob Wilkinson
• Cyril Asker vs. Tai Tuivasa
• Jeremy Kennedy vs. Alex Volkanovski
• Daichi Abe vs. Luke Jumeau
• Li Jingliang vs. Jake Matthews

For more on UFC 221, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.