A September event headlined by UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson is continuing to fill up. On Wednesday, MMAJunkie learned a bantamweight bout between Dustin Kimura and Mitch Gagnon was added to the UFC 165 fight card.
Undefeated in 10 MMA bouts, Kimura made a big impression in his UFC debut at UFC 156, submitting Chico Camus in the third round. With seven submission wins already under his belt, the 24-year-old Kimura looks to be a fighter with the potential to become one of the better grapplers in the 135-pound class.
Like Kimura, Gagnon is also coming off of his first UFC win. After losing to Bryan Caraway in his Octagon debut, Gagnon bounced back with a first-round submission victory over Walel Watson at UFC 152.
By the time he appears against Kimura at UFC 165, Gagnon will have been out of action for 12 months. Gagnon had been booked to fight Issei Tamura in March, but an injury forced his removal from the UFC 158 fight card.
Now, apparently healed and ready to get back into training, Gagnon will try to improve his standing in the bantamweight division with a win over Kimura. With an impressive win, either of these young prospects could earn a significant step up in competition.
With the addition of Kimura and Gagnon, UFC 165 now has eight bouts lined up. Below are all the matchups currently expected for the fight card to be held on Sept. 21 in Toronto, Canada.
- Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson
- Renan Barao vs. Eddie Wineland
- Myles Jury vs. Mike Ricci
- Ivan Menjivar vs. Norifumi Yamamoto
- Nandor Guelmino vs. Daniel Omielanczuk
- Chris Clements vs. Stephen Thompson
- Mark Bocek vs. Michel Prazeres
- Dustin Kimura vs. Mitch Gagnon
Sean Smith is a Featured MMA Columnist for Bleacher Report who has also had work promoted on UFC.com and TheMMACorner.com. Follow on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA.
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