Report: Tuivasa to face Volkov at UFC 293 in Sydney

Fan-favorite heavyweight Tai Tuivasa will try to end his two-fight skid on home soil.

A fight between Tuivasa and Alexander Volkov has been added to UFC 293 on Sept. 9 in Sydney, Australia, a source told MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn on Thursday.

Tuivasa and Volkov are ranked No. 5 and 6 in the heavyweight division, respectively.

Tuivasa, who hasn't yet stepped into the Octagon in 2023, is coming off back-to-back knockout losses against top contenders Ciryl Gane and Sergei Pavlovich. Those results sunk the Sydney native's 2022 campaign to 1-2; he got off to a good start last year by knocking out Derrick Lewis at UFC 271.

Volkov, on the other hand, has some momentum behind him. He knocked out Jairzinho Rozenstruik in the first round of a UFC Fight Night main event in June 2022 and then pushed his winning streak to two in March with another quick finish over Alexandr Romanov.

Tuivasa-Volkov is the first marquee bout set for UFC 293, though the promotion will likely book Israel Adesanya's next middleweight title defense for the main event.