Gallery Israel Adesanya def. Derek Brunson at UFC 230: Best photos view 9 images

Two of MMA’s slickest strikers will meet in Australia.

ESPN.com first reported that former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva (34-8 MMA, 17-4 UFC) and fast-rising contender Israel Adesanya (15-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) have been booked to meet at UFC 234, which takes place Sunday, Feb. 10 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. Due to the time change, the card airs Saturday, Feb. 9, in North America.

MMAjunkie subsequently confirmed the booking with UFC officials. An additional person with knowledge of the matchup who spoke on the condition of anonymity said bout agreements have yet to be finalized, but all parties have agreed to the contest.

Adesanya currently sits at No. 8 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings, while Silva is just behind at No. 10.

Adesanya, 29, made his UFC debut in February and has been on an absolute tear, racking up wins over Rob Wilkinson, Marvin Vettori, Brad Tavares and, most recently, Derek Brunson. Three of those wins came with “Performance of the Night” bonuses attached, as well.

Meanwhile, Silva, 43, is unquestionably one of the greatest fighters of all time and opened his octagon run in 2006 by rattling off 16 consecutive wins before suffering through a disappointing four-fight losing streak. However, “The Spider” got back into the win column with a February 2017 win over Brunson and now welcomes a contest with a new era of striker in “The Last Stylebender.”

It’s a fight that Adesanya has been hunting for the past several months, and now he’ll get his chance to test himself against a legend.

With the addition to the card, UFC 234 includes:

Champ Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum – for middleweight title

ChampIsrael Adesanya vs. Anderson Silva

For more on UFC 234, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.