While a short-notice UFC debut against New York groundfighter Chris Wade didn't work in his favor, French striker Mehdi Baghdad will get a favorable style matchup his second time around in the Octagon when he faces fellow stand-up ace John Makdessi in a UFC 199 lightweight bout on June 4.
In the main event, which airs live on Pay-Per-View from The Forum in Inglewood, California, Luke Rockhold defends his UFC middleweight title against Chris Weidman. In the co-featured bout, Dominick Cruz defends his UFC bantamweight crown against Urijah Faber.
A member of the Ultimate Fighter 22 cast, Baghdad owns an 11-3 record, and despite having a purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu, he is at home while striking, as he has ended eight of his wins by knockout. Now fighting out of his adopted hometown of Los Angeles, he will be in tough against Montreal's Makdessi, a veteran of more than five years in the Octagon who has defeated the likes of Kyle Watson, Sam Stout, Daron Cruickshank and Shane Campbell en route to a 13-5 pro MMA record.
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