Rising middleweights Costa Philippou and Francis Carmont are the latest additions to the impressive UFC 165 fight card, which is headlined by light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson.
MMAJunkie.com reported the fight booking Tuesday afternoon.
Since losing to Nick Catone in his UFC debut, Philippou has won five straight fights. Most recently, Philippou emerged as a 185-pound contender by stopping Tim Boetsch, who still owns a spot in the middleweight division’s top-10 rankings.
Carmont has not lost since joining the UFC in October 2011. Although he also has won five straight inside the Octagon, Carmont‘s past two fights have ended in controversial decisions.
Despite his lackluster showings against Tom Lawlor and Lorenz Larkin, Carmont now faces an opportunity to become a legitimate middleweight title contender.
This is a bit of a puzzling matchup for Philippou. Coming off of the biggest win of his career, the No. 7 middleweight contender appeared ready for a shot at an elite 185-pound adversary. Instead, he finds himself matched up with a non-ranked opponent.
However, the step down in competition could be a blessing in disguise for Philippou, who is in the middle of a transition to a new training camp. Formerly of the Serra-Longo Fight Team, Philippou now finds himself with Bellmore Kickboxing Academy.
With former teammate Chris Weidman rising to the top of his weight class, Philippou‘s move was likely an attempt to move out from the shadows of the 185-pound champion.
Scheduled for Sept. 21, UFC 165 will be held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada. The event fight card now features:
- Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson
- Renan Barao vs. Eddie Wineland
- Brendan Schaub vs. Matt Mitrione
- Pat Healy vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
- Costa Philippou vs. Francis Carmont
- Mike Ricci vs. Myles Jury
- Ivan Menjivar vs. Norifumi Yamamoto
- Chris Clements vs. Stephen Thompson
- Mitch Gagnon vs. Dustin Kimura
- John Makdessi vs. Renee Forte
- Mark Bocek vs. Michel Prazeres
- Nandor Guelmino vs. Daniel Omielanczuk
Sean Smith is a Featured MMA Columnist for Bleacher Report who has also had work promoted on UFC.com and TheMMACorner.com.
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