Brandao-Poirier, Leben-Hall added to UFC 168 in Las Vegas

The UFC has two more bouts to its year-end card – one that could wind up being an important featherweight battle, and one that could be a middleweight slugfest.

Diego Brandao (18-8 MMA, 4-1 UFC), the Season 14 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter,” will meet Dustin Poirier (14-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) at featherweight, while Chris Leben (22-10 MMA, 12-9 UFC) will take on Uriah Hall (7-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC) at UFC 168. UFC officials announced the new fight bookings Thursday morning.

UFC 168 takes place Dec. 28 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and serves as the UFC’s annual year-end card. The main card, featuring a middleweight title rematch between champion Chris Weidman and former pound-for-pound kingpin Anderson Silva, plus a women’s bantamweight title rematch between champ Ronda Rousey and arch rival Miesha Tate, airs on pay-per-view. Prelims air on FOX Sports 1 and stream on Facebook.

Brandao has won three straight fights since the lone loss of his UFC career. He won Season 14 of “TUF,” winning a double bonus for “Submission of the Night” and “Fight of the Night” for his armbar stoppage of Dennis Bermudez with just nine seconds left in the first round at the TUF 14 Finale in December 2011. But in his next fight out, he was grinded down and stifled by Darren Elkins at UFC 146.

The Brazilian, who trains at Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA in Albuquerque, N.M., rebounded after the Elkins loss, though. He beat Joey Gambino by unanimous decision at UFC 153 11 months ago, then submitted Pablo Garza in the first round of UFC on FUEL TV 10 in April. A month ago, he outpointed Daniel Pineda at UFC Fight Night 26 in Boston for his third in a row.

Poirier, meanwhile, got back on track in a big way when he beat hometown favorite Erik Koch by unanimous decision at UFC 164 less than three weeks ago in Milwaukee. That got “The Diamond,” who recently began training at American Top Team in South Florida, back in the win column after a decision loss to Cub Swanson in February.

After going 1-1 in the WEC, Poirier took a fight with Josh Grispi at UFC 125 when featherweight champ Jose Aldo couldn’t fight due to injury. He beat Grispi by unanimous decision, knocking “The Fluke” from the ranks of featherweight title hopefuls. Then he became one himself when he rattled off three more UFC wins, including a “Submission of the Night” against Max Holloway. But against Chan Sung Jung in a title eliminator, he was submitted by his own favorite move, a D’Arce choke, in the fourth round and had to start building his way back to contender status.

Leben, a member of the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” is likely at a career crossroads and staring down what could be a must-win fight. Leben has lost three straight and four of his past five. The skid started with a first-round TKO loss to Brian Stann at UFC 125. But “The Crippler” rebounded with a 27-second knockout of Wanderlei Silva at UFC 132.

Since then, though, it’s been a rough stretch for Leben. He was stopped by Mark Munoz in the main event of UFC 138, then failed his post-fight drug test and was suspended by the UFC. He returned at UFC 155 this past December, but dropped a decision to Derek Brunson. Then at UFC 162 in July, he lost a split call to Andrew Craig.

Hall, too, is in must-win territory. The heavy favorite on Season 17 of “The Ultimate Fighter” because of his dominating wins in the house – which sent two fighters to the hospital – has been a disappointment since the reality show ended. He was upset by Kelvin Gastelum in the middleweight finals in April by split decision. Then he lost a split call to John Howard at UFC Fight Night 26 in Boston, a fight that had UFC boss Dana White saying he lacked a fighter’s heart.

With the additions, the latest UFC 168 card now includes:

• Champ Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva – for middleweight title
• Champ Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate – for women’s bantamweight title
• Josh Barnett vs. Travis Browne
• Diego Brandao vs. Dustin Poirier
• Uriah Hall vs. Chris Leben
• Michael Johnson vs. Gleison Tibau

For the latest on UFC 168, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Dustin Poirier)