UFC 221 Gets Ross Pearson-Mizuto Hirota Lightweight Showdown

A lightweight tilt pitting Ross Pearson against Mizuto Hirota has been added to the UFC 221 lineup.

The promotion announced the pairing on Thursday. UFC 221 takes place at the Perth Arena in Perth, Australia on Feb. 10 and is headlined by a middleweight championship clash between Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold.

A 23-time Octagon veteran, Pearson enters the matchup with Hirota on a four-fight losing streak. In his most recent outing, “The Real Deal” suffered a second-round knockout loss to Dan Hooker at UFC Fight Night 110.

The 36-year-old Hirota also last appeared at UFC Fight Night 110, where he dropped a decision against Alexander Volkanovski. The Japanese veteran will move up to lightweight after a proposed clash against Charles Rosa at UFC Fight Night 117 was canceled due to a difficult weigh cut for Hirota.