The same day that tickets went on sale for the event, a bout between a pair of former NCAA Division I wrestlers and world-ranked light heavyweights was added to the UFC on Fox 14 card in Stockholm, Sweden, Friday.
Fifth-ranked Phil Davis and seventh-ranked Ryan Bader will square off on a card that includes six world-ranked light heavyweights. The card includes a co-main event bout between Dan Henderson and Gegard Mousasi and a main event scrap between Alexander Gustafsson and Anthony Johnson.
The card will be held Saturday, Jan. 24, at the Tele2 Arena, a venue in Johanneshov that seats 30,001.
Bader, a former two-time All-American wrestler at Arizona State, expressed excitement via Twitter regarding the opportunity to face Davis, a former four-time All-American and NCAA champ at Penn State:
Here we go! January 24 on Fox in Sweden vs. Phil Davis. Excited about this matchup and about being on… http://t.co/SLwB99Ng3T
— Ryan Bader (@ryanbader) November 28, 2014
Bader (18-4) has won his last three fights and four of his last five. In his last outing, he halted the five-fight winning streak of ninth-ranked Ovince St. Preux at UFC Fight Night 47 in August.
Aside from his loss to sixth-ranked Glover Teixeira in late 2013, Bader‘s only setbacks have come against former or current UFC champs (Lyoto Machida, Tito Ortiz and Jon Jones). Bader was finished in each of his four losses (two submissions and two TKO/KOs).
Davis (13-2-1) has also prevailed in four of his last five fights, including a unanimous-decision win over Teixeira at UFC 179 in October. Davis’ only career setbacks came against third-ranked Anthony Johnson and fourth-ranked Rashad Evans.
Although neither fighter has ever scrapped in Europe, both fighters have grown familiar with fighting on foreign soil. Bader, who has fought in Australia twice, has also competed in Mexico, the Cayman Islands, Canada, Brazil and Japan. Davis has fought in Brazil three times and once in the United Arab Emirates.
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