Report - Drew Dober vs. Brad Riddell Targeted For UFC 263 On June 12th.

Mandatory Credit: Jeff Bottari - Zuffa LLC & Jasmin Frank - USA TODAY Sports

An intriguing lightweight matchup between Elevation Fight Team mainstay, Drew Dober, and City Kickboxing staple, Brad Riddell is currently in the works to feature at UFC 263 on June 11th. -- with a location or venue for the event yet to be determined by the promotion.

Suffering his first defeat in three outings at UFC 259 in March, Dober dropped a dominant loss to surging lightweight grappler, Islam Makhachev in an eventual third-round arm-triangle defeat. The loss snapped a three-fight winning spree for Dober.

Scheduled to return at UFC Vegas 22 in March, COVID-19 protocols forced Riddell's removal from an interesting pairing against wrestling standout, Gregor Gillespie. News of the targeted pairing was first reported by MMA Junkie reporters, Nolan King, Farah Hannoun, and Mike Bohn. 

Nebraska-born striker, Dober enjoyed a certain purple patch at 155-pounds over the last two years, scoring a trio of knockout wins. Rebounding from a triangle armbar defeat to upcoming UFC 262 feature, Beneil Dariush, the 32-year-old bested Marco Polo Reyes, and Nasrat Haqparast in the opening round, prior to a UFC Fight Night Jacksonville knockout stoppage of Alexander Hernandez last May.

23-10 as a professional, Dober has managed to lodge ten knockout triumphs as well as six submission stoppages. A former welterweight, Dober returned to the lightweight limit back in August of 2018 -- and has scored other notable career victories over the likes of Jamie Varner, Josh Burkman, Scott Holtzman, Jason Gonzalez, Frank Camacho, and Jon Tuck.

A three-fight Octagon veteran, Riddell has managed to score wins in each of those three UFC outings. The 29-year-old Christchurch native holds a 9-1 professional record, featuring under the Glory of Heroes banner prior to his move to the UFC back in October of 2019. 

A former professional kickboxer, Riddell has translated his striking talents in mixed martial arts to score five knockout wins. In his three UFC appearances, Riddell has bested Jamie Mullarkey, Magomed Mustafaev, and in his most recent win, took home a unanimous decision victory against Alex de Silva Coelho at UFC 253 last September on 'Fight Island'.

UFC 263 takes place on June 11th. -- with a flyweight championship rematch between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno currently slated to take place at the showcase, off the back of their Fight of the Year contender at UFC 256 in December.