‘Shogun’ Rua vs. Tyson Pedro announced for UFC Adelaide

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is heading into enemy territory to face a hungry up-and-coming fighter.

Officials announced Tuesday that the former UFC light heavyweight champion will fight Australia’s own Tyson Pedro at UFC Adelaide on Dec. 2 at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. The bout was first reported by ESPN.

This will be Rua’s first fight since seeing a three-fight win streak snapped at this past July. At UFC Hamburg, “Shogun” was knocked out in 89 seconds by Anthony Smith. The loss dropped Rua’s UFC record to an even 9-9 and his overall record to 25-11. Rua, 36, last fought in Australia on Dec. 7, 2013 when he recorded a 63-second KO of James Te-Huna at a show in Brisbane.

The 27-year-old Pedro (7-2) had an impressive start to his UFC career, finishing his first two opponents inside of a round. He submitted Khalil Rountree by rear-naked choke, and then defeated Paul Craig by TKO. He’s gone 1-2 since, sandwiching a first-round submission of Saparbek Safarov around a first-round submission loss to Ovince Saint Preux and a unanimous decision loss to Ilir Latifi.

Two previously reported bouts were also formally announced, a heavyweight bout between Junior dos Santos (19-5) and Tai Tuivasa (8-0), which is expected to serve as the event headliner, and another heavyweight tilt between Mark Hunt (13-13-1, 1 NC) and Justin Willis (7-1).

See the updated UFC Adelaide card below (bout order to be determined):

Junior dos Santos vs. Tai Tuivasa

Mark Hunt vs. Justin Willis

Mauricio Rua vs. Tyson Pedro

Ben Nguyen vs. Wilson Reis

Paul Craig vs. Jim Crute

Kai Kara France vs. Ashkan Mokhtarian