Dhiego Brandao – Photo via UFC.com
“The Ultimate Fighter” season fourteen featherweight tourny winner Diego ‘Ceara’ Brandao (14-7) has his second Octagon bout booked for this May when he meets Indiana fighter Darren ‘The Damage’ Elkins at UFC 146.
Officials with the UFC announced the matchup Wednesday night, confirming several other matches for the Memorial Day weekend card at UFC.com.
Plus, Ultimate Fighter season 14 winner Diego Brandao makes his first start since winning the show, as he takes on Darren Elkins in a featherweight matchup;
UFC 146 is expected to take place on May 26, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card is quickly filling up with six bouts confirmed for the card, which is expected to feature a heavyweight unification bout (unofficially) between UFC champion Junior dos Santos and the last man to wear the Strikeforce strap, Alistair Overeem.
Brandao won the featherweight portion of season 14 of “TUF” competing as a member of Team Bisping on the reality show. He stopped fellow housemate Dennis Bermudez at the shows finale via armbar submission in one of the most exciting bouts of the event. The win earned Brandao the “Submission of the Night” as well as the “Fight of the Night” bonus. ‘Ceara’ is currently riding a four bout win streak as a pro.
Elkins dropped to featherweight last year winning both of his bouts at 145-lbs. His last match took place in October, earning a decision win over Tiequan Zhang at UFC 136. ‘The Damage’ also earned a decision over Michihiro Omigawa at UFC 131 last June. The wins gives Elkins a record of 3-1 in the Octagon since debuting versus Duane Ludwig at UFC on Versus 1, which saw Ludwig injure himself in the first minute of the bout giving the victory to Elkins.