...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC added three more fights to the UFC on Fuel 9 card in Sweden, announcing on Saturday morning that Ryan Couture will make his UFC debut on the card against Ross Pearson, Matt Mitrione will face Phil De Fries, and Ben Alloway will meet UFC newcomer Ryan LaFlare.
Couture gets a tough draw in his UFC debut after a contentious split decision win over K.J. Noons last month on the final Strikeforce event. The son of UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture, Ryan opted to stay with the UFC after his father burnt a bridge with Dana White last week by signing a deal with Spike TV.
Pearson hopes to keep himself on track after a win over George Sotiropoulos in December. That TKO victory was his return to the lightweight division after a featherweight stint, and the former Ultimate Fighter winner is now 6-3 overall in his UFC career.
Mitrione and De Fries were scheduled to fight on multiple occasions in 2012, but injuries and delays set it back before Mitrione finally stepped in on short notice to fight Roy Nelson when Shane Carwin was pulled out of their TUF coaches bout. Mitrione lost that fight, his second straight defeat after a 5-0 start to his career. De Fries was then knocked out by replacement opponent Todd Duffee at UFC 155.
Finally, "TUF: The Smashes" competitor Ben Alloway meets Ryan LaFlare, who had been tied to the next World Series of Fighting event in March. However, LaFlare was tied to a Strikeforce deal, and he'll now bring his undefeated record into the Octagon.
UFC on Fuel 9 is headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Alexander Gustafsson and Gegard Mousasi.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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