Report: UFC finalizing Santos-Rakic for March 6 event

The UFC is finalizing a light heavyweight matchup between contenders Thiago Santos and Aleksandar Rakic on March 6, sources told ESPN's Brett Okamoto.

The bout will reportedly not be the main event of the card, which is yet to be given a location.

Santos is coming off a submission loss to Glover Teixeira last weekend.

It was his first fight since coming up short against then-champion Jon Jones, who won their July 2019 matchup via split decision. The Brazilian suffered a torn ACL, MCL, PCL, and meniscus in his left knee during his loss to Jones.

But Santos reportedly came out of the Teixeira defeat healthy and looking to face off with a fellow ranked fighter.

Meanwhile, Rakic rebounded from his first loss in the Octagon by beating Anthony Smith via unanimous decision in August.

The Austrian owns a 5-1 record in the UFC and is viewed as one of the division's most promising fighters.