The second scheduled installment of the UFC’s highly anticipated debut on the Fox Sports 1 network continues to fill out. Most recently, a featherweight bout between Hatsu Hioki and Darren Elkins has been added to the card.
Both Hioki and Elkins will enter the contest coming off of a loss—Hioki to Clay Guida, Elkins to Chad Mendes—making it a very important match for each man.
A loss would mean three straight for Hioki, putting his tenure with the promotion in danger, while a second consecutive defeat for Elkins would undo nearly all of the good that came from his recent five-fight win streak.
Hioki is renowned for his advanced grappling ability, which has led to 12 career submission victories. Since joining the UFC, however, he has not succeeded in making an opponent tap. He’ll look to end that dry spell when he takes on Elkins this August.
For his part, Elkins has implemented some fine wrestling and striking to earn a bevy of decision wins inside the Octagon, though his last two bouts have ended before the first bell. The 29-year-old is expected to have an advantage over Hioki on the feet, so it will be interesting to see whether he tries to turn the contest into a striking battle.
However it pans out, this is a pairing that has some Fight of the Night potential. With Hioki‘s exciting grappling and Elkins‘ in-your-face approach, it should at the very least produce its fair share of excitement.
Hioki vs. Elkins, which was first reported by Brett Okamoto of ESPN, joins Takeya Mizugaki vs. Erick Perez as the latest bouts to be added to the UFC on Fox Sports 1: 2 card.
The event will be headlined by a welterweight fight between Carlos Condit and Martin Kampmann.
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