UFC Fight Night 35 main card set with six bouts for promotion’s Georgia return

The lineup is set for next month’s UFC Fight Night 35 card, the promotion’s return to Georgia for the first time in nearly two years.

UFC Fight Night 35 takes place Jan. 15 at Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga., north of Atlanta. The night’s main card will air on FOX Sports 1, as will four prelims. Additional prelims are expected to stream on the UFC’s new “Fight Pass” digital network.

The event will be the UFC’s first in Georgia since the UFC 145 pay-per-view in Atlanta in April 2012. A total of 12 bouts are slated for the show.

UFC Fight Night 35 features a middleweight headliner between former Strikeforce champion Luke Rockhold (10-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Constantinos Philippou (12-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC).

Rockhold will be gunning for his first UFC win. He debuted with the promotion in May after going 8-0 for Strikeforce, but he fell victim to a Vitor Belfort spinning kick in Brazil. The loss was his first setback in five and a half years. While in Strikeforce, Rockhold beat Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza for the title, then defended it against Keith Jardine and Tim Kennedy before moving over to the UFC with the promotions’ merger earlier this year.

Philippou will be looking to get back on the winning track, as well. In September, he dropped a decision to Francis Carmont at UFC 165 in Toronto to have a five-fight winning streak derailed. That streak came at the expense of names like Tim Boetsch, Court McGee and Jared Hamman.

In the co-main event, another former Strikeforce standout, Lorenz Larkin (14-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC), will take on the streaking Brad Tavares (11-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) in a middleweight bout.

Larkin got back in the win column in November following the first official loss of his career in April, which came by decision against Carmont in UFC debut. Larkin took a unanimous decision from Chris Camozzi at UFC Fight Night 31 for his first victory since a unanimous decision win over upcoming UFC welterweight title challenger Robbie Lawler in Strikeforce in July 2012.

Tavares, a veteran of Season 11 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” has won four straight fights, all by decision, since the first loss of his career. That setback came against Aaron Simpson at UFC 132 in July 2011, an since then, the Hawaiian has outpointed Dongi Yang, Tom Watson, Riki Fukuda and Robert McDaniel, the latter coming in August.

Also on the main card, welterweight Jason High (18-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) takes on promotional newcomer Beneil Dariush (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC); Team Alpha Male bantamweight standout T.J. Dillashaw (8-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) will try to rebound from a close loss to Raphael Assuncao when he takes on Mike Easton (13-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC); Derek Brunson (11-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) meets Yoel Romero (6-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), at middleweight; and to open the main card, Georgia’s own Cole Miller (20-8 MMA, 9-6 UFC) will take on Sam Sicilia (12-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) in a featherweight bout.

The card has a decidedly Strikeforce reunion feel to it, as there are seven fighters with history in the now-defunct promotion: Rockhold, Larkin, High, Brunson, Romero, Isaac Vallie-Flagg and Trevor Smith.

The full UFC Fight Night 35 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 1, 7 p.m. ET)

• Luke Rockhold vs. Constantinos Philippou
• Lorenz Larkin vs. Brad Tavares
• Beneil Dariush vs. Jason High
• T.J. Dillashaw vs. Mike Easton
• Derek Brunson vs. Yoel Romero
• Cole Miller vs. Sam Sicilia

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 5 p.m. ET)

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 4 p.m. ET)

For the latest on UFC Fight Night 35, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Luke Rockhold)