Fresh off his first UFC victory, “The Ultimate Fighter” season 12 quarter-finalist Cody McKenzie (12-) will make his octagon return in just over a months time when he faces Yves Edwards (39-16-1) at January’s UFC: Fight for the Troops 2 event.
McKenzie steps in as a replacement for Melvin Giullard at the event as Guillard moves in to replace an injured Kenny Florian and will now face his opponent Evan Dunham at the event.
MMAjunkie.com was the first to report the news of the McKenzie vs. Edwards matchup early Tuesday morning, noting that both fighters have verbally agreed to meet at the event.
McKenzie defeated TUF housemate Aaron Wilkinson last Saturday night at the TUF 12 Finale to remain a perfect 12-0 in his professional career. It was his eleventh straight win by guillotine choke submission with all ending in the first round. His first professional victory back in April of 2007 was the only non-submission win in a fight he won by TKO in the second round.
Edwards, a longtime mma veteran, will make his 11th appearance under the UFC banner against McKenzie and has been fighting in-and-out of the promotion since his first fight at UFC 33 in Sept. of 2001. He is currently riding a two fight win streak and is 5-1 in his last six fights. He earned unanimous decisions over John Gunderson at UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares and Luis Palomino at Bellator 24 with his last wins, while dropping a unanimous decision to Mike Campbell in May’s Moosin: God of Martial Arts event.
UFC: Fight for the Troops 2 (aka UFC Fight Night 23) is set to take place on Jan. 22nd at Fort Hood in Killeen, Tex., marking the second such event by the promotion with the main card airing live on Spike TV.