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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC has announced a trio of new fights for their UFC Fight Night 35 event on Fox Sports 1, coming on January 15 to Duluth, Georgia.
The latest additions to the card are a welterweight bout between Adlan Amagov and Jason High, a lightweight fight between TUF 13 competitors Ramsey Nijem and Justin Edwards, and a middleweight fight between Brian Houston and Trevor Smith.
Amagov had an eleven fight unbeaten streak snapped in 2012 when he was knocked out by Robbie Lawler, but he's turned around with three straight wins since then. That includes both of his appearances in the UFC, most recently picking up a first round knockout win over T.J. Waldburger at UFC 166 in October.
High has picked up two straight wins himself in the UFC, bouncing back from a short notice loss to Erick Silva at UFC on Fuel 10. He submitted James Head in August at UFC Fight Night 27, then scored a decision win over Anthony Lapsley last week at UFC 167.
Nijem and Edwards were teammates under Junior dos Santos during their time on TUF, with Nijem ultimately coming in as the runner-up that season. After a winning three straight fights following his loss to Tony Ferguson, Nijem has lost two straight, and has been stopped in them both. Edwards, meanwhile, is dropping to lightweight after a quick and brutal loss to Brandon Thatch at UFC Fight Night 27 in August.
Finally, Houston and Smith both need wins as well after losses in their respective UFC debuts. Smith dropped a decision to Ed Herman back in July, while Houston was submitted by Derek Brunson earlier this month.
UFC Fight Night 35 will be headlined by a middleweight bout between former Strikeforce Champ Luke Rockhold and Costa Philippou.
Penick's Analysis: Nijem-Edwards and Houston-Smith seem like "win or you're gone" fights for all involved, but Amagov-High could be a lot of fun. High has some very good ground skills, while Amagov is capable of some very exciting and violent outbursts on the feet. It's a nice stylistic matchup and should be a fun fight for a Wednesday night Fox Sports 1 card.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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