Siyar Bahadruzada vs. John Howard added to December's UFC 168 event

A welterweight matchup between Afghani slugger Siyar Bahadurzada (21-5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and John Howard (21-8 MMA, 5-3 UFC) is the latest addition to December’s UFC 168 event.

UFC officials today announced the new booking for the quickly-filling fight card.

Featuring a headliner between UFC middleweight champ Chris Weidman and former title holder Anderson Silva, UFC 168 takes place Dec. 28 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The night’s main card airs pay-per-view. The Bahadurzada vs. Howard bout is expected to take place on the prelims, which air on FOX Sports 1 and stream on Facebook.

Bahadurzada fights for the first time since a march loss to Dong Hyun Kim. He was expected to face Robbie Lawler at July’s UFC on FOX 8 event but an injury forced Bahadurzada to withdraw from the fight. He’ll now look for the form that saw him win seven straight fights before the loss to Kim.

Meanwhile, Howard looks to build on the strength of a split-decision win over “The Ultimate Fighter 17? finalist Uriah Hall at August’s UFC Fight Night 26. The result saw Howard move to 7-1 in his past eight fights, a run that earned him a return trip to the octagon after being released from the promotion in 2011.

With the addition to the card, UFC 168 now features:

• Champ Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva – for UFC middleweight title
• Champ Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate – for women’s bantamweight title
• Josh Barnett vs. Travis Browne
• Diego Brandao vs. Dustin Poirier
• Fabricio Camoes vs. Jim Miller
• Uriah Hall vs. Chris Leben
• Michael Johnson vs. Gleison Tibau
• Manny Gamburyan vs. Dennis Siver
• William Macario vs. Bobby Voelker
• Shane Del Rosario vs. Guto Inocente
• Siyar Bahadurzada vs. John Howard

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

(Pictured: Siyar Bahadurzada)