Promotion officials announced the light heavyweight pairing on Tuesday. UFC 196 takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight title rematch between Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez.
Cirkunov, 28, made his promotional debut in August, when he scored a first-round knockout of Daniel Jolly at UFC Fight Night “Holloway vs. Oliveira.” The Xtreme Couture representative owns a 10-2 career mark and enters the bout on a five-fight winning streak, with each of those triumphs ending inside of a round.
The 25-year-old Nicholson is also riding a five-fight winning streak. The Florida native went 3-0 in 2015, including a first-round stoppage of Chaz Morgan in his most recent outing on Aug. 1. Nicholson has finished all six of his career victories, five in the first round.