Lando Vannata will fight Mike Grundy at UFC 262 and will look to establish himself as a big name in the lightweight division.
The pair of exciting lightweights were paired together and the announcement was first made by the UFC. Additionally, the bout will serve as a bounce-back for Vannata after suffering a unanimous decision loss to Bobby Green. While the fight was closely contested on the feet, Green came out victorious against the Jackson-Wink product in a rematch. Conversely, Grundy was a hot commodity after his debut back in 2019. However, since then the lightweight ran into trouble against the unbeaten (14-0) Movsar Evloev.
Lando Vannata Vs. Mike Grundy Set For UFC 262
Prior to his loss to Green, Vannata was widely criticized for a lack of striking defense. Although, over time the 29-year old lightweight has steadily improved on that aspect of his game. Specifically, many saw massive upside in Vannata’s UFC debut against Tony Ferguson but since then, Vannata didn’t quite live up to the expectations that were placed on him.
Despite Grundy dropping a loss to Evloev, he is a dangerous opponent but especially on the ground. All in all, if the fight hits the ground, Grundy has eight submissions and effective in transitions, so the style could definitely trouble Vannata.
Overall, the lightweight fight is going to be an excellent appetizer for such a huge co-main and main event. In particular, the vacant lightweight title is up for grabs with former 3X Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler looking to realize his dream of becoming a multi-promotional champion against the 3rd degree blackbelt Charles Oliveira.
With the addition of Lando Vannata Vs. Mike Grundy, here is the current UFC 262 line-up:
- Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler [C]
- Leon Edwards vs. Nate Diaz
- Shane Burgos vs. Edson Barboza
- Tony Ferguson vs. Beneil Dariush
- Jack Hermansson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
- Gina Mazany vs. Priscila. Cachoeira
- Katlyn Chookagian vs. Viviane Araujo
- Alex Perez vs. Matt Schnell
- Andrea Lee vs. Antonina. Shevchenko
- Jamie Pickett vs. Jordan Wright
- Christos Giagos vs. Joel Alvarez
- Ronaldo Souza vs. André Muniz
- Damir Ismagulov vs. Rafael Alves
- Mike Grundy vs. Lando Vannata
- Kevin Aguilar vs. Tucker Lutz
Do you think Lando Vannata will get back in the win column? Let AllAccessMMA know what you think!
