The annual Madison Square Garden UFC extravaganza sparkles a little bit brighter now — officially.

The promotion announced during its UFC 279 pay-per-view on Saturday night the addition of Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Chandler to its UFC 281 slate. The two elite lightweights will square off Nov. 12 in a bout that had been linked to the New York event in reports dating back more than a month.

Nicknamed “The Diamond,” Poirier was supposed to have made his Garden debut in November 2018 against Nate Diaz, who competes in this Saturday’s main event against Tony Ferguson, but was forced out by injury within a month of UFC 230. He went on to win the interim lightweight crown the following spring before losing a title unification to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Poirier’s star took off last year with a pair of TKO victories over Conor McGregor. However, he fell short in his second bid for the undisputed 155-pound UFC crown in December with a third-round submission loss to Charles Oliveira.

Chandler, coming off a spectacular front-kick KO of Ferguson in May, will compete at the Garden for the third time. The former two-time Bellator lightweight champion is still seeking his first win in the city, falling by TKO due to doctor’s stoppage in July 2017 with his former promotion and then dropping a decision to Justin Gaethje last November in what many regarded as the Fight of the Year at UFC 268.

A pair of championship fights will top the bout order at UFC 281, headlined by champ Israel Adesanya defending against Alex Pereira in a middleweight title fight between former professional kickboxing rivals. New strawweight champion Carla Esparza makes the first defense of her second 115-pound reign against Zhang Weili, who lost a close decision at the Garden against Rose Namajunas for the same title a year ago, in the night’s co-main event.