Daron Cruickshank vs. Paul Felder slotted for UFC Fight Night 81 in Boston

Paul Felder

A lightweight bout between Daron Cruickshank (16-7 MMA, 6-5 UFC) and Paul Felder (10-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) is the latest addition to January’s UFC Fight Night 81 lineup.

Felder recently announced the bout (via Twitter):

UFC Fight Night 81 takes place Jan. 17, a Sunday, at TD Garden in Boston. The majority of the card is expected to air on FOX Sports 1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

The bout order hasn’t been finalized.

Cruickshank and Felder both could be fighting to avoid a pink sleep.

Cruickshank is winless in his past three fights following a no-contest with K.J. Noons (Cruickshank took an accidental eye-poke) and submission losses to Beneil Dariush and James Krause. In fact, since a solid 3-1 run that saw the 30-year-old former collegiate wrestler earn back-to-back TKO wins over Mike Rio and Erik Koch, the fighter, who first joined the UFC after appearing on “The Ultimate Fighter 15,” has just one win in five bouts.

Felder, meanwhile, got off to a promising start in the UFC after winning his first two fights and pushing his overall winning streak to 10 bouts. Following a split-decision win over Jason Saggo, the 31-year-old fought vet Danny Castillo in his second fight and earned MMAjunkie’s “Fight of the Month” honors for his spinning-backfist knockout. However, the former CFFC champion has since suffered decision losses to Edson Barboza and Ross Pearson.

The latest UFC Fight Night 81 card includes:

• Champ T.J. Dillashaw vs. Dominick Cruz – for bantamweight title
• Eddie Alvarez vs. Anthony Pettis
• Travis Browne vs. Matt Mitrione
• Tim Boetsch vs. Ed Herman
• Daron Cruickshank vs. Paul Felder

For more on UFC Fight Night 81, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.