Mitch Gagnon vs. Dustin Kimura added to September's UFC 165 event

A bantamweight matchup between top Canadian prospect Mitch Gagnon (9-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and undefeated American Dustin Kimura (10-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has been added to September’s UFC 165 event.

UFC officials announced the new booking late Wednesday night.

Featuring a pair of championship matchups, “UFC 165: Jones vs. Gustafsson” takes place Sept. 21 at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre. The evening’s main card airs on pay-per-view following preliminary bouts that air on FOX Sports 1 and stream on Facebook.

The positioning of the Gagnon vs. Kimura fight on the evening’s lineup was not confirmed but seems likely for the evening’s preliminary card.

Grappling specialist Gagnon fights for the third time in the UFC, and all three appearances have taken place in his native Canada. His first appearance was a UFC 149 loss to Bryan Caraway that scored the pair the evening’s “Fight of the Night” bonus. He rebounded just two months later with a 69-second submission win over Walel Watson at UFC 152.

Gagnon was expected to return to work in March at UFC 158, but an injury forced the 28-year-old to withdraw from the contest.

Meanwhile, 24-year-old Hawaiian Kimura fights for the second time under the UFC banner. Fighting primarily in his home state, Kimura earned nine straight wins to open his career before making his UFC debut at February’s UFC 156 event. While he missed weight for the fight, he did pick up a third-round submission win.

With the addition to the card, the UFC 165 lineup now includes:

• Champ Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson – for light-heavyweight title
• Champ Renan Barao vs. Eddie Wineland – for interim bantamweight title
• 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
• Mitch Gagnon vs. Dustin Kimura

For the latest on UFC 165, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Dustin Kimura)