(photo via Sherdog.com)
A new opponent for has been found for Japanese bantamweight Takeya Mizugaki (13-5) for the upcoming UFC on Versus 3 (aka UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann) event on March 3rd.
Former King of the Cage fighter Reuben Duran (7-2-1) has signed a five fight deal with the UFC and will step into the octagon against Mizugaki. The news comes via his management, Iridium Sports Agency, who announced the bout on their Facebook.com page earlier today.
Mizugaki’s original opponent, Fransisco Rivera had to withdraw from their bout on Saturday due to a training injury.
Duran has won four straight fights, three of which came in 2010 and will fight for the first time in 2011 when he makes his UFC debut. The fighter has shown that he can win by a variety of means by earning victories by submission, knockout, or going to decision. His last fight was in August of last year where he earned a first round guillotine submission at a King of the Cage event.
Mizugaki comes into the fight having traded wins for losses in his last six fights. His last bout was in November at WEC 52, losing via technical submission to Urijah Faber in the main event. Before that he earned a unanimous decision against Rani Yahya at WEC 48 and lost a unanimous decision to Scott Jorgensen at WEC 45, the bout also earned both men the “Fight of the Night” bonus.
UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann is set for March 3rd at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky. The main card will be shown live on the Versus network and is headlined by a UFC welterweight bout between Digeo Sanchez vs. Martin Kampmann.