Holloway vs Fili and Ellenberger vs Medeiros set for UFC 172

Two more fights added to UFC 172 in April

by Ben Heather @benheather

UFC 172 which is due to take place on April 26th has just added a couple of extra fights to the card and these should be sure to excite the fans.

Andre Fili will meet Max Holloway in a featherweight battle. Fili who made his UFC debut at UFC 166 taking the fight on less than two weeks notice and missed weight.... though this wasn't a massive shock as when he took the fight he weighed 178lbs. Fili managed to cut 30lbs but couldn't get down to the 146lb limit. However, when he got in to the Octagon he didn't disappoint again. He dominated the fight from start to finish when he picked up the win by TKO in the second round.

I certainly am looking forward to seeing him back in the Octagon again and I am pretty sure Dana White will be too after praising his performance last time out.

Fili's opponent at UFC 172 will be Max Holloway, who ended a two fight losing streak at UFC Singapore defeating Will Chope via second round. Before that he had lost to Conor McGregor and Dennis Bermudez but always comes to put on a show and with Fili's fighting style this should be a great fight for the fans.

Also added to UFC 172 is Joe Ellenberger who will be making his UFC debut at the same event as his brother Jake will be making his return from injury. Ellenberger, will meet Yancy Medeiros who defeated Yves Edwards by KO at UFC Fight for the Troops 3 last year and both men will be looking to continue up the ranks with a win in April.

Below you will find the current UFC 172 card

Jon Jones vs Glover Teixeira
Jake Ellenberger vs Tarec Saffiedine
Yancy Medeiros vs Joe Ellenberger
Max Holloway vs Andre Fili

Tarec Saffiedine Injured, Robbie Lawler Now Meets Siyar Bahadurzada in Seattle

Robbie Lawler vs Siyar Bahadurzada now set for UFC on Fox 8

by Tommy Strong @Strong_tea

Tarec Saffiedine (14-3 MMA) the last ever Strikeforce welterwieght champion, has been forced to pull out of his UFC debut bout against Robbie Lawler due to an injury.  Its unsure at present how long the injury will keep Saffiedine out for, so lets hope it isn't too long before we get to see him make his octagon debut.

Saffiedine has been replaced with the excellent striker Siyar Bahadurzada (21-5-1 MMA 1-1 UFC) with the fight scheduled to take place at UFC on Fox 8 on July 27th in Seattle. Siyar was on a 7 fight win streak (6 via TKO/ KO) before his last bout against Kim Dong-Hyun UFC on Fuel TV in Japan back in March. He lost that fight via unanimous decision and will be eager to get back to winning ways. A win over Lawler would certainly make up for his loss in March.

Lawler (20-9-1 NC) has had a very turbulent couple of years, not being able to get a run of results together. However, he surprised many in his most recent fight and his return to the UFC against Josh Koscheck with a first round TKO stoppage.

With both men carrying heavy hands and plenty of knockout power, we could be in for a real treat of a fight.

The UFC on Fox 8 card will be headlined by a Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson defending his belt against John Moraga.

Two more fights added to UFC on Fox 8

The UFC on Fox 8 card is starting to come together with two more fights announced today

by Scott Cumming @tummidge

Hot on the heels of the Jake Ellenberger vs. Rory MacDonald announcement comes another fight that could define the future landscape of the welterweight division as Robbie Lawler gets set to take on, the last man to win under the Strikeforce banner, Tarec Saffiedine.

Lawler (20-9, 5-3 UFC) comes into this bout on the heels of an upset victory over Josh Koscheck at UFC 157. He won by first round TKO and placed his name as someone to watch in the division being only the second fighter to knock Koscheck out. This be only his second fight at welterweight after spending the past 8 years at middleweight where he was formerly the EliteXC middleweight champion.

Saffiedine (14-3) is one of the last Strikeforce imports to make his debut with the UFC and does so as the last holder of the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship beating Nate Marquardt by unanimous decision in January. The Team Quest fighter is currently on a four fight win streak with his last loss coming to Tyron Woodley in January 2011.

The two fighters currently sit at 8th (Saffiedine) and 9th (Lawler) in the UFC's official rankings and a win for either man will propel them towards a top five placing and get them a step closer to contendership for a title fight.

The second fight announced today sees another Strikeforce veteran looking to follow up on a surprise victory as Bobby Green gets set to fight Danny Castillo in the lightweight division.

Green (20-5, 1-0 UFC) picked up a "submission of the night" win against Jacob Volkmann at UFC 156 and came back in the fight having been smothered by Volkmann's wrestling game in the first round before settling down and taking over the fight. Green will go into the bout on a five fight winning streak with three of those victories coming by submission.

Team Alpha Male's Castillo (15-5, 5-2 UFC) took a unanimous decision win against Paul Sass in February and will look to build another winning streak of his own. He was riding a three fight win streak until a KO defeat at the hands of Michael Johnson.

UFC on Fox 8 will take place on the 27th July at KeyArena in Seattle.

The latest fight card for the event includes:
Jake Ellenberger vs. Rory MacDonald
Robbie Lawler vs. Tarec Saffiedine
Mac Danzig vs. Melvin Guillard
Danny Castillo vs. Bobby Green