Darren Elkins and his ear at UFC 146 – Photo by Donald Miralle via UFC.com
A pair of featherweight fighters have been named as opponents for this August’s trip to Indianapolis by the Ultimate Fighting Championship pitting Darren ‘The Damage’ Elkins (16-3) against Japanese fighter Hatsu Hioki (26-6-2).
News of the bout was announced late Monday (June 10, 2013) afternoon by ESPN.
UFC on Fox Sports 1: Condit vs. Kampmann is expected to take place on August 28, 2013 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event is headlined by a welterweight rematch featuring former UFC contender Carlos Condit and Martin Kampmann.
Elkins suffered his first loss competing at 145-lbs last April seeing a five fight win streak end at the hands of Chad Mendes. The two fought at UFC on FOX 7 which had Elkins losing in 68-seconds via TKO. ‘The Damage’ had earned victories over Antonio Carvalho, Steven Siler, Diego Brandao, Zhang Tiequan and Michihiro Omigawa in his previous streak.
Hioki looks to avoid three losses in a row and a release slip by the top promotion versus Elkins. The Japanese fighter lost a split decision this past January against Clay Guida at UFC on FOX 6, while losing a decision versus Ricardo Lamas in June of last year at UFC on FX 4. The losses put Hioki’s record inside the Octagon at 2-2.