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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Two exciting new fights have been scheduled for the undercard of UFC on Fox 3 this May, as Johnny Bedford will take on Nick Denis, and Dennis Bermudez will meet Pablo Garza at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The UFC announced the two new fights on Friday afternoon.
Bedford was supposed to make his second UFC appearance in January at UFC on Fox 2, but his fight with Mitch Gagnon was scrapped at the last minute due to visa issues. Bedford entered the UFC through The Ultimate Fighter 14 last fall, and took out Louis Gaudinot in his first official UFC fight in December.
Denis made a quick impression in his own UFC debut in January, taking out Joseph Sandoval at UFC on FX 1. Denis delivered a series of short elbow strikes in the clinch that knocked Sandoval out cold in just 22 seconds.
Bermudez was the runner-up in the featherweight tournament of TUF 14, but he came very close to capturing the title himself. In a massively entertaining back and forth round against Diego Brandao, he dropped Brandao and came close to stopping him. However, he got caught in a fight-ending armbar with seconds left in the round.
Garza hopes to rebound from a submission loss himself, suffered in a bout against Dustin Poirier in November. That loss, just the second of his career, snapped a two-fight winning streak that saw him earn a flying knee "Knockout of the Night" and a flying triangle "Submission of the Night."
UFC on Fox 3 takes place on May 5, headlined by a five-round lightweight contender bout between Jim Miller and Nate Diaz.
Penick's Analysis: Both of these are fantastic matchups. Bedford looked great against Louis Gaudinot, and it will be great to see what he can do against another exciting 135 lb. fighter in Denis. If Denis can follow up the performance against Sandoval with something spectacular against Bedford it will be especially impressive. As for Garza-Bermudez, both suffered setbacks in their respective last fights, but both are immensely exciting to watch, and this should be a really good fight for the fans in New Jersey.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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