Misha Cirkunov vs. Jim Crute booked for UFC Vancouver

The first official fight has been confirmed for the UFC’s upcoming return to Vancouver as Misha Cirkunov will face off against Jim Crute on Sept. 14 at Rogers Center.

UFC officials announced the new matchup on Monday following an initial report by MMA DNA.

Once hailed as the future of the light heavyweight division, Cirkunov has fallen on tougher times lately with losses in three of his past four fights after working his way into the top-15 rankings.

Most recently, Cirkunov suffered a knockout loss to highly touted prospect Johnny Walker in just 38 seconds this past March at UFC 235.

Now the light heavyweight, a Canadian who originally hails from Latvia, will attempt to get back on track when he fights in September against another up-and-comer with a lot of eyeballs on his career.

Crute earned his way to the UFC with a win on Dana White’s Contender Series last year before rattling off back-to-back wins inside the Octagon against Sam Alvey and Paul Craig.

At 23 years of age, Crute is a much needed injection of youth into the 205-pound ranks and now he’ll look to secure his third win in a row in the UFC when he faces Cirkunov in September.

UFC Vancouver is still coming together so no main event has been announced for the show yet. The main card is slated to air on the ESPN+ streaming service.