'Shogun' Rua vs. Sam Alvey Slated for UFC Sao Paulo

Two light heavyweights with 40 combined knockouts are set to square off at the Ultimate Fighting Championship's return to Sao Paulo, Brazil.

On Thursday night, ESPN reported that Mauricio Rua (26-11) will be locking horns with Sam Alvey (33-13, 1 NC) at light heavyweight at UFC Fight Night 164. This event will take place at the Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Nov. 16.

"Shogun" bounced back from a knockout loss to eventual title challenger Anthony Smith by stopping Tyson Pedro in the third round at UFC Fight Night 142 in December. The win a huge upset and one of the biggest of 2018, Rua earned a record-tying eighth post-fight bonus for that win at 205 pounds. With a career knockout rate of 81 percent, "Shogun" holds almost as many knockout victories in the UFC (eight) as he did in Pride Fighting Championships (nine).

Alvey is on the longest losing streak of his career, dropping three consecutive bouts to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Jim Crute and Klidson Abreu. This fight his 48th, Alvey will be the most experienced fighter that Rua has ever faced in "Shogun's" nearly 40-fight career. This bout against Rua will be "Smile'n's" third in 2019, giving him at least three fights in every calendar year he has competed inside the Octagon. Alvey made his UFC debut in August 2014, and was only able to fight twice in the organization that year, although he did compete two times earlier that year on the regional level including a middleweight championship defense with Canadian promotion Maximum Fighting Championship.

UFC Fight Night 164 will go down on Nov. 16 at the Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The event will be headlined by a light heavyweight showdown between Jan Blachowicz and Ronaldo Souza.