Verbal agreements are in for a third featherweight scrap on the stacked Houston fight card. “China’s best prospect, Tiequan Zhang, makes his return to the Octagon vs. the always-tough Darren Elkins at UFC 136,” said UFC president Dana White.
Both ‘The Mongolian Wolf’ Tiequan Zhang (13-1) and Darren ‘The Damage’ Elkins (12-2) both fight as featherweights for the second time when they square off in October at UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard III. The event is set to take place on October 8 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
News of the bout surfaced last week through Zhang’s coach at China Top Team, Ruy Menezes.
Zhang was last in the Octagon in February, dropping to featherweight for the first time in his career, where he made his UFC debut. He won a quick 48 second submission victory, using his favorite choke (four of his last five have been via guillotine) to submit Jason Reinhardt at UFC 127. Previous to that bout he appeared at WEC 53, losing his first pro-match to Danny Downes by decision. In his personal life, ‘The Mongolian Wolf’ was recently married in Monglolia.
Elkins also made his featherweight debut in his last fight, beating Michihiro Omigawa in June by unanimous decision at UFC 131. Many watching the fight felt the bout should have been much closer, or gone to Omigawa. Previous to that fight ‘The Damage’ was submitted by Charles Oliveira in the first round of UFC on Versus 2, and earned a TKO win over Duane Ludwig at the first Versus event.