UFC 146 is coming together nicely, as five bouts have been added to the card.
Two of the UFC’s top welterweight strikers are set to meet, as UFC officials announced Wednesday that Dan Hardy and Duane Ludwig would fight one another at the Las Vegas event on May 26.
Hardy (23-10-1 NC) is the former No. 1 contender to Georges St-Pierre’s 170-pound title, but has lost four consecutive fights and needs a win to remain with the organization.
The 29-year-old native of Nottingham, England is coming off a submission loss to Chris Lytle in August and has also dropped bouts to Anthony Johnson, Carlos Condit and GSP during his current losing streak.
Ludwig (21-12) is looking to bounce back from a submission loss to Josh Neer in January. In that bout, Ludwig rocked Neer and had him in trouble, but when the fight went to the ground Ludwig was choked unconscious.
The 33-year-old Muay Thai world champion has career wins over Amir Sadollah, Yves Edwards, Jens Pulver and holds the UFC record for fastest knockout as he defeated Canadian Jonathan Goulet in six seconds in 2006.
Christmas comes early for Sass
Submission specialist Paul Sass will face fellow lightweight Jacob (Christmas) Volkmann at UFC 146.
Sass (12-0) is arguably the most dangerous grappler in the division with 11 of his wins coming by submission (seven triangles, three heel hooks and one armbar). 10 of his wins have come in the first.
The Liverpool native is coming off a three-minute win over TUF 12 finalist Michael Johnson in October.
Volkmann (12-2) is unbeaten at 155 pounds and has won five fights in a row, defeating Efrain Escudero, Danny Castillo, Antonio McKee, Paul Kelly and Ronys Torres all by decision.
The 31-year-old Minnesotan has found himself in some hot water recently and was visited by secret service after openly criticizing President Barack Obama.
UFC 146 is headlined by a heavyweight title bout between Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem. A lightweight bout between Edson Barboza and Evan Dunham is also scheduled for the card.
Teixeira to make long-awaited UFC debut
Brazilian light-heavyweight Glover Teixeira is set to make his long-anticipated UFC debut against Kyle Kingsbury. Teixeira (17-2) has won 15 straight fights, 10 of them by knockout or TKO. He holds wins over former UFC fighters Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Marvin Eastman, as well as former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez. Kingsbury (11-3-1 NC) recently had a four-fight win streak snapped by Stephan Bonnar at UFC 139.
Napao meets unbeaten Strikeforce vet
The Memorial Day card will also feature unbeaten former Strikeforce heavyweight Shane Del Rosario making his UFC debut against Gabriel Gonzaga. Gonzaga (13-6) is coming off a quick win over Ednaldo Oliveira at UFC 142 in Brazil in his return to the organization.
Del Rosario (11-0) has finished all of his opponents and only one made it out of the first round. He is coming off a submission win over Lavar Johnson last February. The 28-year-old is considered one of the top prospects in the heavyweight division.
TUF champ faces gritty featherweight
TUF 14 champion Diego Brandao will make his official UFC debut against Darren Elkins in a featherweight matchup. Brandao (14-7) beat Dennis Bermudez by submission to win the Ultimate Fighter 14 reality show in December.
Elkins (13-2) has gone 2-0 since dropping to 145 pounds, defeating Tiequan Zhang and Michihiro Omigawa by unanimous decisions. Elkins holds a win over two-time Bellator tournament champion Pat Curran.
