Galore Bofando vs. Chad Laprise among additions to UFC on FOX 26 in Winnipeg

With the main event for the UFC’s return to Winnipeg now set, the card below it continues to build.

The UFC announced a welterweight headliner between former champion Robbie Lawler and ex-lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos today for UFC on FOX 26, and three new bouts will join the undercard, as well.

Galore Bofando (5-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) meets Chad Laprise (12-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) at welterweight; John Makdessi (14-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC) will take on Abel Trujillo (15-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC) at lightweight; and Sultan Aliev (14-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) fights Nordine Taleb (13-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) in a welterweight bout. The promotion announced the new bookings today.

UFC on FOX 26 takes place Dec. 16 at MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The main card airs on FOX following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Bofando will be looking to build on his sensational promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 113 in July. In Scotland, he slammed Charlie Ward in a big way, which led to a first-round knockout. The fight was the first for England’s Bofando in two and a half years.

Chad Laprise

Laprise has won back-to-back fights, both by TKO, after consecutive losses to Francisco Trinaldo and Ross Pearson, which were his first two setbacks as a pro after a 10-0 start. That perfect start included a win over Olivier Aubin-Mercier to take the “TUF: Nations” crown. In August 2016, he stopped Thibault Gouti in the first round. After a lengthy layoff, he moved back to welterweight in July and stopped Brian Camozzi at UFC 213.

Makdessi will be looking to get back in the win column after a knockout loss to Lando Vannata at UFC 206 this past December. He’ll be fighting for the first time in a year and has losses in three of his past four fights.

Abel Trujillo

Trujillo needs to get back on track, as well. After a three-fight winning streak, Trujillo was submitted by James Vick at UFC Fight Night 104 in February in Vick’s home state of Texas. That was Trujillo’s first loss since a December 2014 setback to new interim lightweight champ Tony Ferguson.

Taleb has alternated wins and losses for his past five fights, but got back on track in May in Sweden with a unanimous decision over Oliver Enkamp. That helped erase the memory of a decision loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio in Canada in February.

Aliev will be looking for his second straight win, as well. After a UFC debut loss to Kenny Robertson in Sweden in January 2015, he was sidelined for nearly two years before returning in December 2016 for a split-decision win over Bojan Velickovic. His fight with Taleb will be his first in a year.

With the additions, UFC on FOX 26 now includes:

• Robbie Lawler vs. Rafael dos Anjos
• Misha Cirkunov vs. Glover Teixeira
• Jared Cannonier vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
• Tim Elliott vs. Justin Scoggins
• Galore Bofando vs. Chad Laprise
• John Makdessi vs. Abel Trujillo
• Sultan Aliev vs. Nordine Taleb
• Oluwale Bamgbose vs. Alessio Di Chirico
• Julian Marquez vs. Vitor Miranda

For more on UFC on FOX 26, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.