Article Images
Tim Means
Less than two weeks after the card was announced, UFC Fight Night 80 already has an 11-fight lineup after the UFC today announced a slew of new fights for the event.
UFC Fight Night 80 takes place Dec. 10 at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan in “Sin City.” The entire card will stream on UFC Fight Pass.
The event is the first of three in three straight days for the UFC in its home city, with the TUF 22 Finale on Dec. 11 and UFC 194 on Dec. 12. It also will be the first North American card to air in full on UFC Fight Pass.
In new welterweight bouts announced, “TUF: Nations” finalist Sheldon Westcott (8-3-1 MMA, 0-2 UFC) meets Edgar Garcia (14-4 MMA, 0-3 UFC); “TUF 21” vet and former MMAjunkie blogger Michael Graves (5-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) takes on recent UFC signee Danny Roberts (11-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC); Santiago Ponzinibbio (20-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) fights Andreas Stahl (9-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC); and John Howard (23-11 MMA, 7-6 UFC) meets Tim Means (24-7-1 MMA, 6-4 UFC).
At featherweight, “TUF” veteran Phillipe Nover (11-15-1 MMA, 1-3 UFC) takes on Zubaira Tukhugov (17-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC), and in a women’s strawweight bout, Kailin Curran (3-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC) meets “TUF 20” product Emily Kagan (3-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC).
In one of the most intriguing new matches Means and fellow veteran Howard do battle at 170 pounds. Means had a four-fight winning streak snapped in July when he was submitted by Matt Brown at UFC 189 in Las Vegas. Prior to that, he had a pair of stoppage wins over George Sullivan and Diego Lima and decisions over Marcio Alexandre Jr. and Hernani Perpetuo.
Howard snapped a three-fight skid at the same event with a split-decision victory over Cathal Pendred. He had been on a downturn with a TKO loss to Lorenz Larkin in Boston in January and decision losses to Brian Ebersole and Ryan LaFlare.
With the additions, UFC Fight Night 80 now includes:
- Paige VanZant vs. Joanne Calderwood
- Jim Miller vs. Michael Chiesa
- Edgar Garcia vs. Sheldon Westcott
- Michael Graves vs. Danny Roberts
- Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Andreas Stahl
- John Howard vs. Tim Means
- Omari Akhmedov vs. Lyman Good
- Kevin Casey vs. Antonio Carlos Junior
- Thiago “Marreta” Santos vs. Elias Theodorou
- Phillipe Nover vs. Zubaira Tukhugov
- Kailin Curran vs. Emily Peters Kagan
For more on UFC Fight Night 80, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.