Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque Agree to Matchup at Madison Square Garden Nov. 2

Stephen Thompson and Vicente Luque have agreed to meet in an intriguing welterweight contest at UFC 244.

UFC president Dana White confirmed the pairing to ESPN on Tuesday. Additionally, White revealed that a previously announced middleweight clash between Kelvin Gastelum and Darren Till will serve as the evening’s co-main event. UFC 244 takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 2 and is headlined by a welterweight tilt pitting Jorge Masvidal against Nate Diaz.

A two-time welterweight title challenger, Thompson has won just once in his last five outings. “Wonderboy” is coming off back-to-back losses to Till and Anthony Pettis. Thompson earned a title shot against then champion Tyron Woodley by winning eight of his first nine promotional appearances. He battled Woodley to a majority draw in their first meeting at UFC 205 but lost a majority decision in the rematch at UFC 209.

Luque has established himself as a person of interest in the welterweight division with a six-bout winning streak that includes a hard-fought split verdict over Mike Perry in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 156 in Uruguay. Prior to that, Luque had vanquished his previous five foes via knockout, technical knockout or submission.