A lightweight battle was added to the upcoming The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale card in Las Vegas. UFC officially announced that Daron Cruickshank will take on former Strikeforce star K.J. Noons at the Nevada’s Palms Casino Resort on Dec. 12.
Fresh off a decision victory over Anthony Njokuani, Cruickshank (16-5) improved to 3-1 in his past four bouts inside the Octagon. Noons (13-7), who looked impressive in his last UFC bout with a 30-second win over Sam Stout in April, enters the bout on a two-fight winning streak with a decision win over George Sotiropoulos in late 2013.
A couple other match-ups were announced from the promotion for UFC cards in December.
A day after the TUF 20 Finale show, UFC heads to FOX in Phoenix with Junior dos Santos vs. Stipe Miocic as the headliner, and a lightweight clash between David Michaud and Garett Whiteley was added to the card.
Michaud (7-1) cuts down to 155 pounds after suffering his first professional loss, in his Octagon debut against Jingliang Li at UFC 173, to meet Whiteley (7-2), who desperately needs a win after back-to-back losses to Alan Patrick and Vinc Pichel under the UFC banner.
The last UFC card of the year, headlined by Lyoto Machida vs. C.B. Dollaway in Barueri, Brazil, on Dec. 20, will feature a bantamweight clash in Leandro Issa vs. Yuta Sasaki.
Issa (12-4) earned both “Fight of the Night” and “Performance of the Night” bonuses in his last UFC fight, finishing Tuerxun Jumabieke with a third-round armbar. Unbeaten in his past 12 fights, Sasaki (18-1-2) makes his second UFC appearance after a 66-second stoppage victory over Roland Delorme in August.