A lightweight showdown between fighters looking to break into the top-15, veteran Jamie Varner (21-9-1, 2 NC) and up-and-comer James Krause (20-5), has been scheduled for the fight card of UFC 173, promotion officials announced this week.
Both men aim to rebound after suffering recent hard-luck losses.
In Varner’s case, the 29-year-old has dropped three of his past four contests since re-entering the UFC with a stunning upset win over Edson Barboza in 2012. His most recent setback came in early February, when Varner snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and suffered a violent second-round knockout loss at the hands of a badly rocked Abel Trujillo in UFC 169’s ‘Fight of the Night.’
As for Krause, after earning a double-bonus win over Sam Stout in his UFC debut, the 27-year-old saw his momentum derailed in the form of a bizarre first-round TKO loss to Bobby Green at UFC Fight for the Troops 3, in which, after getting kicked in the groin twice, Krause toppled over from one last kick to the belt line which referee John McCarthy ruled a legal blow.
UFC 173 takes place May 24, 2014 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV. An updated UFC 173 fight card can be seen below.
- Chris Weidman vs. Vitor Belfort
- Jamie Varner vs. James Krause
- Chris Holdsworth vs. Kyung Ho Kang
- Sam Sicilia vs. Doo Ho Choi