UFC 166 adds Eye vs. Kaufman, sends Rivera vs. Roop to UFC Fight Night 31

As expected, recent UFC signee Jessica Eye (10-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will face Sarah Kaufman (16-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at October’s UFC 166 event.

MMAjunkie.com first (www.mmajunkie.com) reported the likely booking, and UFC officials today confirmed the matchup.

Featuring a headliner between UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez and former title holder Junior dos Santos, UFC 166 takes place Oct. 19 at Houston’s Toyota Center. The evening’s main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims that air on FOX Sports 1 and stream on Facebook.

Placement of the Eye vs. Kaufman fight wasn’t immediately clear.

Additionally, a planned matchup of Francisco Rivera (9-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) vs. George Roop (14-9-1 MMA, 4-5 UFC) was moved back three weeks to “UFC Fight Night 31: UFC Fight for the Troops 3,” which takes place Nov. 6 at Kentucky’s Fort Campbell.

The 27-year-old “Evil” Eye is an Ohio native who is best known for a December 12 win over Zoila Frausto Gurgel. In a 125-pound contest, Eye choked out the Bellator 115-pound women’s title holder with a standing arm-triangle choke in just 58 seconds. When Bellator MMA officials elected to move away from promoting women’s contests, Eye was stuck on the sidelines and never again fought for the promotion.

Eye began her professional career in 2010 and currently boasts a seven-fight win streak.

Meanwhile, former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champ Kaufman was set to make her UFC debut at next week’s UFC Fight Night 27 event before opponent Sara McMann was forced to withdraw and a suitable replacement opponent could not be secured.

Roop, who has a flair for the dramatic, scored his latest upset in May, when he stopped former WEC champion Brian Bowles with a second-round TKO. It marked Roop’s second consecutive win following a split-decision defeat to Hatsu Hioki and a TKO loss to Cub Swanson. With past wins over the likes of Chan Sung Jung and Josh Grispi, Roop now looks for the first three-fight UFC winning streak of his career.

He meets a fellow WEC vet in Rivera, who looks for his fifth straight win overall (though it’d be six if not for a failed drug test due to an over-the-counter stimulant in 2012). Most recently, Rivera rebounded from that no-contest with Roland Delorme with a TKO win over Edwin Figueroa at UFC 156.

For more on UFC 166 and “UFC Fight Night 31: UFC Fight for the Troops 3,” check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Sarah Kaufman)