A pair of lightweights in need of rebounding have been booked to fight each other at UFC 221.
The promotion on Thursday announced that Mizuto Hirota (18-8-2 MMA, 1-3-1 UFC) and Ross Pearson (19-14 MMA, 11-11 UFC) will square off at the Feb. 10 event, which takes place at Perth Arena in Perth, Australia, and airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.
Hirota returns simply looking to make it to the octagon this time after a scary weigh-in incident in September. At UFC Fight Night 117 in Japan, a clearly dazed Hirota nearly stumbled off the scale after coming in four pounds over the featherweight limit. Not surprisingly, the UFC pulled him from his bout with Charles Rosa.
In his previous fight, Hirota lost a unanimous decision to Alexander Volkanovski in June at UFC Fight Night 110.
It’s rare that a fighter can lose four in a row and still be in good standing with the UFC, but that’s the case with Pearson. The Season 9 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” is on a four-fight skid after getting knocked out with a vicious knee by Dan Hooker at UFC Fight Night 110. Pearson’s three losses before that all came by decision.
With the addition, the latest UFC 221 card now includes:
For more on UFC 221, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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