Michael Johnson gets Darren Elkins at UFC Fight Night 124 in first featherweight bout

Michael Johnson will be welcomed to the UFC featherweight division by a formidable foe.

Johnson (17-12 MMA, 9-8 UFC) today announced on his Instagram that he’s set to fight the red-hot Darren Elkins (23-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 124, which takes place Jan. 14 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis and airs on FS1.

The next fight is on!! And oh is it a great one for many many reasons! THE #1 FIRST EVER hometown fight in #stlouis plus my debut into a new division!! #fightime #saintlouis #stlouis #teammenace #teammj #MichaelJohnson #ufc#cardinals #blues #budlight #budweiser #anheuserbusch #grindtime #titannutrition #homecoming #hometown #home #iseestraps

A post shared by Michael johnson (@menace155) on Nov 9, 2017 at 11:52am PST

Brazilian website Combate was first to report the news.

Johnson told MMAjunkie last month that he wanted his first featherweight fight to be against top-10 opponent, and that’s what he’ll get in Elkins, who is riding a five-fight winning streak.

Johnson will enter the 145-pound division looking to reverse a recent tailspin. He’s lost four of his previous fight bouts, including two in a row. In his most recent encounter, Johnson was TKO’d in July by former WSOF champion Justin Gaethje in The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale main event. The two engaged in a blistering slugfest considered to be a “Fight of the Year” contender before Gaethje finished Johnson late in the second round.

The gritty Elkins, No. 10 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings, won both of his fights in 2017. In March, Elkins rallied to knock out Mirsad Bektic in the third round at UFC 209. Elkins followed that “Performance of the Night” with a split-decision win over Dennis Bermudez in July at UFC on FOX 25.

The latest UFC Fight Night 124 card now includes:

• Vitor Belfort vs. Uriah Hall
• Thiago Alves vs. Zak Cummings
• Matt Frevola vs. Marco Polo Reyes
• James Krause vs. Alex White
• Darren Elkins vs. Michael Johnson

For more on UFC Fight Night 124, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.