The UFC's return to "The Big Easy" continues to build with a little lagniappe at heavyweight.

A bout between big men Lukasz Brzeski (9-6-1 MMA, 1-5 UFC) and Ryan Spann (22-11 MMA, 8-6 UFC) has been added to UFC 318 next month. A person with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the fight to MMA Junkie, but asked to remain anonymous because the UFC has not yet made a formal announcement of the fight.

UFC 318 takes place July 19 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. The card features a trilogy bout between the retiring local Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway for the BMF title.

Spann will try to bounce back from a second-round TKO loss to Waldo Cortes-Acosta in March. That setback was his fourth in five fights, but also his first at heavyweight after years at 205 pounds. His final bout at light heavyweight, though, was a bonus-winning submission of Ovince St. Preux at UFC 307.

Brzeski has a recent TKO loss to Cortes-Acosta on his resume, too. But after that 2023 setback, he bounced back with a win over Valter Walker – which stands as his only win in the UFC. The 33-year-old Polish fighter got into the UFC through a DWCS win that was flipped to a no contest for a failed drug test, and once in, he's struggled with losses in five of six fights.

With the addition, the UFC 318 lineup now includes:

• Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier – for BMF title
• Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov
• Brendan Allen vs. Marvin Vettori
• Islam Dulatov vs. Adam Fugitt
• Ikram Aliskerov vs. Brunno Ferreira
• Neil Magny vs. Gunnar Nelson
• Vinicius Oliveira vs. Kyler Phillips
• Nicolle Caliari vs. Carli Judice
• Jimmy Crute vs. Marcin Prachnio
• Francisco Prado vs. Nikolay Veretennikov
• Ateba Gautier vs. Robert Valentin
• Michael Johnson vs. Daniel Zellhuber
• Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez
• Lukasz Brzeski vs. Ryan Spann

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Lukasz Brzeski vs. Ryan Spann set for UFC 318 in New Orleans

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