The UFC announced earlier this month they would be adding another fight card before UFC 194 in December. This week they not only booked its main event, but the entire fight card.
No. 6-ranked strawweight contender Paige VanZant meets No. 8-ranked Joanne Calderwood in the evening's main event. What other bouts have the UFC booked for the event? We recap the fights made this past week right here.
UFC Fight Night 76, October 24
- Darren Elkins vs. Robert Whiteford
Elkins has been out of action since last December, but he returns in Dublin to take on Robert Whiteford. Elkins has exchanged wins and losses in his last six bouts and is coming off a decision loss to Hacran Dias. Whiteford has won back-to-back fights inside the Octagon over Daniel Pineda and Paul Redmond.
Elkins is ranked as the No. 14 contender in the featherweight division.
UFC Fight Night 77, November 7
- Jimmie Rivera vs. Pedro Munhoz
The UFC announced the addition of one bout each to UFC Fight Night's 77 and 78 Thursday morning. The added bout at UFC Fight Night 77 features hot prospect Jimmie Rivera. Rivera has won 16-straight and is coming off a KO win over Marcus Brimage. He meets Pedro Munhoz who has won two in a row over Matt Hobar and Jerrod Sanders.
UFC Fight Night 78, November 21
- Gabriel Benitez vs. Andre Fili
The other bout added on Thursday was between the talented Andre Fili and Gabriel Benitez. Fili entered the UFC with considerable hype but has had a rocky go inside the cage. Benitez is a winner of four-straight with a 2-0 record under the UFC banner.
UFC Fight Night 80, December 10
- Paige VanZant vs. Joanne Calderwood
- Michael Chiesa vs. Jim Miller
- Sheldon Westcott vs. Edgar Garcia
- Danny Roberts vs. Michael Graves
- Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Andreas Stahl
- John Howard vs. Tim Means
- Lyman Good vs. Omari Akhmedov
- Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Kevin Casey
- Thiago Santos vs. Elias Theodorou
- Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Phillipe Nover
- Kailin Curran vs. Emily Kagan
The main event of VanZant vs. Calderwood got most of the press, but in a rare move, the UFC released the entire fight card alongside the main event announcement.
VanZant vs. Calderwood is a matchup of two strawweights looking to get into the title race. The stylistic matchup will force each fighter to tighten up their weakness. VanZant's pace and pressure grappling style contrasts with Calderwood's calculated striking.
Lightweight grapplers Jim Miller and Michael Chiesa meet in an entertaining co-main event. And John Howard and Tim Means should spark some excitement in their encounter as well. All-in-all the 11-fight event should provide plenty of excitement to kick off the UFC's three-event blitz.
The Fight Pass event features a strong line-up of notable names and well-matched fights.
UFC 195, January 2
- Erik Koch vs. Drew Dober
2016 will kick off with the welterweight title tilt between Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit, but the undercard addition of Erik Koch and Drew Dober fits in nicely to the card.
Koch recently moved to lightweight after being a featherweight contender in WEC but faltering in his UFC appearances. His UFC lightweight debut was a thrilling TKO over Rafaello Oliveira. Dober is 1-3 with one no-contest in his UFC career, but he has been competitive throughout. This tussle at 155 pounds should help get the card rolling come January.
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