Several new fights are set for the UFC’s return to Brisbane, Australia, as the organization announced on Monday a slate of undercard bouts to support the Frank Mir vs. Mark Hunt main event at UFC Fight Night 84. The co-main event for the March 20 card, will see the return of Hector Lombard as he takes on Neil Magny. Additionally, the event will feature James Te Huna against Steve Bosse, Brendan O’Reilly vs. Alan Jouban, and Daniel Kelly vs. Antonio Carlos Junior.
There’s some home country draw to each of the bouts, with Lombard, Te Huna, O’Reilly, and Kelly each connected to Australia.
Lombard returns to action for the first time since January of last year, as he finished out a year-long suspension as of January 3. He tested positive for anabolic steroids out of a win over Josh Burkman, which overturned that to a no contest. He’ll try to get back on track against the surprising Magny, who has won two straight since a setback loss against Demian Maia. That loss snapped a seven fight winning streak, but Magny responded well in a quick turnaround over Erick Silva before edging past Kelvin Gastelum.
Te Huna, the New Zealander fighting out of Penrith, Australia, returns for the first time since June of 2014. He suffered his third straight loss in that most recent fight, getting caught in an armbar by Nate Marquardt. He’ll welcome Bosse to a second appearance in the Octagon, following a brutal head kick KO loss in his UFC debut to Thiago Santos.
O’Reilly has split two appearances in the UFC, losing a decision in his debut before winning a decision of his own against Vik Grujic last May. He takes on Jouban, who needs a rebound win after a TKO loss to Albert Tumenov last October. He’d won three of four appearances in the UFC prior to that loss, including a knockout win over Australian Richard Walsh.
Finally, Australia’s Kelly has won three of four UFC bouts thus far himself, defeating Steve Montgomery in his last outing. He’ll try to keep win a second straight against TUF: Brazil 3 winner Carlos Junior, who tries to get back in the win column after an eye poke ended his bout with Kevin Casey in just 11 seconds in December.
The March 20 event is expected to air live on UFC Fight Pass on Saturday, March 19 in the U.S. due to the time difference.
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