Luke Rockhold vs. Costa Philippou Booked for Main Event of Strikeforce Challengers UFC Fight Night 35


(Luke’s been training hard with his acting coach, Tim Kennedy. / Props: @lukerockhold)

Eleven days after swinging through Singapore with UFC Fight Night 34: Ellenberger vs. Saffiedine, the UFC will be hosting another completely non-essential Fight Night card in Georgia. The UFC confirmed last week that UFC Fight Night 35 will take place Wednesday, January 15th at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, GA.

Headlining the event will be a five-round middleweight bout between Luke Rockhold and Costa Philippou — both of whom are coming off losses. Rockhold became one of Vitor Belfort’s head-kick KO victims during his UFC debut in May, and then pulled out of a UFC 166 matchup with Tim Boetsch due to a knee injury. As for Philippou, the Cypriot striker just had a five-fight win streak snapped when he was dominated by Francis Carmont at UFC 165, losing by unanimous decision.

Rockhold and Philippou still rank among the better contenders in the UFC’s surging 185-pound division, but their last performances wouldn’t seem to qualify them for a UFC headlining spot, even on an irrelevant small-market Fight Night show. But hey, nobody’s forcing you to watch it, and if anything crazy happens, we’ll be sure to link to the GIF on our Facebook page. That’s the CagePotato Promise™.

Two other bouts — Cole Miller vs. Sam Sicilia and T.J. Dillashaw vs. Mike Easton — have also been reported for Fight Night 35, which marks the UFC’s first stop in Georgia since Jones vs. Evans in April 2012. The event is slated to air on FOX Sports 1.


(Luke’s been training hard with his acting coach, Tim Kennedy. / Props: @lukerockhold)

Eleven days after swinging through Singapore with UFC Fight Night 34: Ellenberger vs. Saffiedine, the UFC will be hosting another completely non-essential Fight Night card in Georgia. The UFC confirmed last week that UFC Fight Night 35 will take place Wednesday, January 15th at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, GA.

Headlining the event will be a five-round middleweight bout between Luke Rockhold and Costa Philippou — both of whom are coming off losses. Rockhold became one of Vitor Belfort’s head-kick KO victims during his UFC debut in May, and then pulled out of a UFC 166 matchup with Tim Boetsch due to a knee injury. As for Philippou, the Cypriot striker just had a five-fight win streak snapped when he was dominated by Francis Carmont at UFC 165, losing by unanimous decision.

Rockhold and Philippou still rank among the better contenders in the UFC’s surging 185-pound division, but their last performances wouldn’t seem to qualify them for a UFC headlining spot, even on an irrelevant small-market Fight Night show. But hey, nobody’s forcing you to watch it, and if anything crazy happens, we’ll be sure to link to the GIF on our Facebook page. That’s the CagePotato Promise™.

Two other bouts — Cole Miller vs. Sam Sicilia and T.J. Dillashaw vs. Mike Easton — have also been reported for Fight Night 35, which marks the UFC’s first stop in Georgia since Jones vs. Evans in April 2012. The event is slated to air on FOX Sports 1.