Ilir Latifi vs. Gian Villante, Marcelo Guimaraes vs. Vitor Miranda join UFC 196 card on March 5

By Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The March 5 UFC 196 event continues to fill up this week, with two more fights officially confirmed for the event in Ilir Latifi vs. Gian Villante and Marcelo Guimaraes vs. Vitor Miranda.

The UFC announced both fights this week.

Latifi makes a quick turnaround after scoring a 28 second KO win at UFC Fight Night 81 earlier this month, and hopes to make it three straight with first round finishes. The 32-year-old Swede has won four of his six bouts in the UFC since entering as a late replacement against Gegard Mousasi in 2013. All four of his wins have ended in the first round, with three knockouts and one submission to his credit in that stretch.

He’ll take on Villante, who sits at 4-3 in the UFC thus far. The Strikeforce vet has been a bit inconsistent, but he holds stoppage wins over TUF winner Corey Anderson and longtime vet Anthony Perosh in two of his last three bouts. The Perosh fight was his most recent win, coming at the end of the first round at UFC 193 in November.

Guimaraes returns to the cage after a lengthy layoff, having last appeared in June of 2014. The 32-year-old Brazilian has made three appearances in the UFC dating back to 2012, sandwiching two decision wins over a violent knockout loss to Hyun Gyu Lim in 2013.

The 36-year-old Miranda lost a decision to Antonio Carlos Junior in the finals of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3” in his UFC debut, but he’s bounced back nicely in his last two fights, stopping both Jake Collier and Clint Hester.

UFC 196 will be a massive pay-per-view card for the UFC, headlined by the UFC Lightweight Championship bout between Rafael dos Anjos and UFC Featherweight Champ Conor McGregor.

Here’s how the card sits as of this week:

 

  • Rafael dos Anjos vs. Conor McGregor (Lightweight Championship)
  • Holly Holm vs. Miesha Tate (Women’s Bantamweight Championship)
  • Corey Anderson vs. Tom Lawlor
  • Erick Silva vs. Nordine Taleb
  • Darren Elkins vs. Chas Skelly
  • Jim Miller vs. Diego Sanchez
  • Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko
  • Ilir Latifi vs. Gian Villante
  • Marcelo Guimaraes vs. Vitor Miranda

[Photo (c) Steven Flynn via USA Today Sports]

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