Despite a loss in his last fight, Montreal’s Mike Ricci is getting another chance to shine on a UFC main card — and this time, in his home town.
The 26-year-old lightweight’s March 16 matchup with Colin Fletcher has been given the final pay-per-view slot as the full UFC 158 lineup was finalized Thursday.
That means that former No. 1 middleweight contender Patrick (The Predator) Cote’s 170-pound debut against UFC newcomer Bobby Voelker has been relegated to the final preliminary fight on Sportsnet. Cote is coming off a win by disqualification at the last event at Montreal’s Bell Centre, while Voelker won his last three fights in Strikeforce.
Ricci vs. Fletcher is a matchup of recent TUF final losers. Ricci dropped a decision to Colton Smith in the final of The Ultimate Fighter 16 on Dec. 15, while Fletcher lost a unanimous decision to Norman Parke in the all-British final of TUF Smashes: Australia vs. U.K.
UFC 158 is headlined by the welterweight title bout between Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz.
In other UFC news, Parke will next take on undefeated Guamanian fighter Jon (Super Saiyan) Tuck in one of four lightweight fights added to the undercard of April’s UFC on FOX 7 in San Jose.
In another matchup of TUF alumni, undefeated fighter Myles (The Fury) Jury meets TUF 13 finalist Ramsey Nijem.
Finally, Strikeforce imports (Relentless) Roger Bowling and Jorge (Gamebred) Masvidal will make their UFC debuts, facing Anthony (The Assassin) Njokuani and Tim (The Dirty Bird) Means, respectively.
