Robert Whittaker vs. Jared Cannonier Booked for UFC 248

The Reaper returns! @RobWhittakerMMA takes on Cannonier in Vegas on March 8th #UFC248 pic.twitter.com/8TPMsS95pq

— UFC Aus/New Zealand (@UFC_AUSNZ) December 20, 2019

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion is taking no easy fights as he gets back into action in March.

On early Friday morning, the organization announced that former champ Robert Whittaker (20-5) will be taking on the surging Jared Cannonier (13-4) at UFC 248 in March. The event will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 7.

Whittaker lost his middleweight strap at the hands of Israel Adesanya in October, when the undefeated Nigerian fighter rendered him unconscious in the second frame. The loss snapped a nine-fight win streak dating back to 2014, and it was the first time "Bobby Knuckles" suffered a loss at 185 pounds. The former divisional kingpin has won five post-fight bonuses in his last five appearances, and seven overall at middleweight.

Cannonier has yet to taste defeat as a 185-pounder, with former heavyweight-turned-light heavyweight stopping David Branch, Anderson Silva and Jack Hermansson in rapid succession upon dropping down to the division in November 2018. "The Killa Gorilla" holds a finish rate of 85 percent, posting nine knockouts with eight coming in the first two rounds.

This matchup will join two major bouts already booked on the card, including a strawweight title showdown between the once-beaten Weili Zhang (20-1) and former divisional queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk (16-3). Combate reported on Monday that Neil Magny (21-7) will collide with Jingliang Li (17-5) at welterweight as well. An additional title fight is slated to headline this event, but none have been announced.