Ultimate Fighting Championship officials added a middleweight bout to the upcoming UFC 140 event, set for this December.
With verbal agreements in place, middleweights Jared ‘The Messenger’ Hamman (13-3) and Cypriot born fighter Constantinos Philippou (8-2, 1NC) will meet in the Octagon at the Toronto event.
UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida is scheduled to take place on December 10th at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is headlined by a UFC light heavyweight title match between champ Jon Jones and challenger, Lyoto Machida.
Hamman debuted at middleweight in his last Octagon appearance, earning a second round TKO victory over C.B. Dollaway at UFC on Versus 5 last August. ‘The Messenger’ dropped down from 205 lbs after a 1-2 record and two straight “Fight of the Night” bonuses. His last fight at light heavyweight took place in September of last year, a unanimous decision loss to Kyle Kingsbury at UFN 22.
Philippou is 1-1 in the UFC, having won a split decision at UFC 133 last August over Jorge Rivera in his last bout. The Cypriot debuted in March of this year, stepping in as a late replacement for Dan Miller at UFC 128 against Nick Catone in a 195 lbs catchweight bout. Catone would earn a unanimous decision ending an eight fight undefeated streak for Philippou. Philippou made an appearance on “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz” but never made it into the house after losing to Joseph Henle in the opening elimination fight.