The UFC returns to Dallas, Texas, on January 16, 2027, for the first time since July 2022. Chidi Njokuani has booked a fight in front of his own crowd. In the welterweight division, he takes on Ignacio Bahamondes. The fight takes place at the American Airlines Center.

Multiple sources have confirmed the fight to Heavy.com. Both Njokuani and Bahamondes aren’t currently ranked in the UFC welterweight rankings, but a win could match them up against a ranked fighter in the near future.

Born And Raised

For Njokuani, it will be a special fight in front of his hometown fans. The now 37-year-old Njokuani was born in Dallas in 1988 and fights for the first time in his city. Njokuani signed with the UFC in 2021 after already having almost 30 professional fights on his record. The fighter, who also represents Nigeria, earned his contract on the Contender Series. He had an amazing start in the UFC with two knockout victories but wasn’t able to keep the momentum and dropped three fights in a row.

That made Njokuani decide to go down a weight class to welterweight. A great decision for Njokuani since he racked up three wins against tough competition. Njokuani was successful but struggled to stay within the welterweight limit twice. In his most recent three fights at welterweight, Njokuani seemed to have a better weight cut and was able to make the contracted weight. In his most recent fight, he broke his two-fight losing skid by beating Joel Álvarez via unanimous decision. A win over Ignacio Bahamondes would get him close to a fight against someone in the top 15 of the welterweight division.

The Other Way Around

While Njokuani dropped in weight class, Bahamondes went up in weight class. The talented fighter out of Chile earned his way to the UFC on the Contender Series in 2020. Bahamondes had high expectations in his UFC debut but lost to veteran John Makdessi via split decision. He bounced back with a highlight-reel finish over Roosevelt Roberts and another finish over Rongzhu. After beating Trey Ogden, he lost to Ludovit Klein in 2023. Again, a tough loss for the Chilean fighter. Bahamondes showed after that loss that he was still someone to keep an eye on. He racked up three wins against Christos Giagos, Manuel Torres, and Jalin Turner.

All by finish in the first round. For the three wins, he received three ‘Performance of the Night’ bonuses. In June 2025, Bahamondes got the opportunity to fight Rafael Fiziev. Fiziev won the fight after three rounds via unanimous decision. After also losing to Tofiq Musayev earlier this year, Bahamondes decided to leave the lightweight division and proceed as a welterweight. In his welterweight debut for the UFC, he beat Muslim Salikhov via unanimous decision. Now he looks to extend his winning streak to two when he takes on Chidi Njokuani in hostile territory.

UFC Dallas – January 16

• Chidi Njokuani vs. Ignacio Bahamondes