Franklin vs. Le headlines UFC Macao
The UFC has officially unveiled the complete fight card ahead of the organization’s first event in greater China. UFC Macao: Franklin vs. Le will take place on Nov. 10 at the CotaiArena.
Main card
UFC Macao is headlined by the middleweight fight between former UFC champion Rich Franklin and former Strikeforce champion Cung Le. Franklin (29-6, 1 NC) is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 147 in June. Le (8-2), meanwhile, most recently fought at July's UFC 148, where he defeated Patrick Cote by unanimous decision.
The landmark event also will feature Tiequan "The Mongolian Wolf" Zhang, who has three UFC bouts under his belt. Zhang, who made his UFC debut at UFC 127 will face UFC debutant Jon "Super Saiyan" Tuck of Guam — who suffered a memorable broken toe in the TUF Live elimination bouts — in a lightweight contest.
Also on the card, two Thiago bouts.
Brazilian striker Thiago Silva meets Stanislav Nedkov (12-0) in a light-heavyweight fight while Paulo Thiago will appear in a welterweight bout against South Korean MMA pioneer Dong Hyun "Stun Gun" Kim.
Mac Danzig, season six winner of "The Ultimate Fighter," will meet former Pride and Shooto champion Takanori "The Fireball Kid" Gomi in a lightweight war.
And at bantamweight, Takeya Mizugaki meets Jeff Hougland. Both fighters coming off of recent losses will be hungry for a win. Their first meeting was scrapped when UFC 151 was cancelled.
Preliminary card
Japanese bantamweight Motonobu Tezuka will make his UFC debut against TUF 12 fan favorite Alex "Bruce Leeroy" Caceres in what could be a wide-open contest.
In another UFC 151 do-over, attack-minded flyweights Yasuhiro Urushitani and John Lineker will face-off.
Tom DeBlass, a training partner of former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, has verbally agreed to drop down to middleweight to face Riki Fukuda of Japan. DeBlass will be trying to right the ship after suffering his first loss to Cyrille Diabate earlier this April at UFC on Fuel TV 2.
