Rin Nakai vs. Leslie Smith, Ben Nguyen vs. Justin Scoggins set for UFC Fight Night 85

The UFC’s return to Australia next month has two more fights added to an already hefty lineup.

Rin Nakai (16-1-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Leslie Smith (7-6-1 MMA, 1-2 UFC) will return from long layoffs for a women’s bantamweight matchup at UFC Fight Night 85. And flyweights Ben Nguyen (14-5 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and Justin Scoggins (11-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) will fight.

UFC officials announced the new bouts today, giving the card 13 total fights.

UFC Fight Night 85 takes place at Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The event, which is expected to air on FOX Sports 1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass, takes place Sunday, March 20, in Australia but airs Saturday, March 19, in North America due to the time difference.

Nakai made her UFC debut in September 2014 in her home country of Japan. She came into the fight undefeated, but dropped a unanimous decision to Miesha Tate, who would go on to win two more fights after that to run her winning streak to four and earn a title shot against champ Holly Holm. Nakai, though, has been on the shelf since that fight.

Smith has dropped three of her past four fights, including two of three in the UFC. The former Invicta fighter took on Barb Honchak for Invicta’s flyweight title at Invicta FC 7, but dropped a five-round unanimous decision. After that, she moved to the UFC, but dropped a decision to Sarah Kaufman. She rebounded with a TKO of Jessamyn Duke at UFC Fight Night 45 in July 2014, but then dropped a TKO to Jessica Eye at UFC 180 in Mexico City when a doctor stopped the fight due to a cut. She will be back after a 16-month layoff.

Nguyen will try to extend his eight-fight winning streak against Scoggins. He signed with the UFC in 2015 and won his promotional debut with a first-round TKO of Alptekin Ozkilic at UFC Fight Night 65 in Adelaide. He followed that up with a first-round submission of Ryan Benoit at UFC 193 this past November in Melbourne. The South Dakota native has called Australia home for several years.

Scoggins is just a few days removed from a unanimous decision win over Ray Borg at UFC Fight Night 82 in Las Vegas. That win was his second straight, and after the fight he declared his intention to win the flyweight title in 2016. He won’t waste any time getting back to work. Scoggins started his pro career 9-0, including wins in his first two UFC fights. After a split-decision loss to Dustin Ortiz and a submission loss to former title challenger John Moraga, he rebounded with decision wins over Josh Sampo and Borg.

With the additions, the latest UFC Fight Night 85 card includes:

• Mark Hunt vs. Frank Mir
• Hector Lombard vs. Neil Magny
• Steve Bosse vs. James Te Huna
• Alan Jouban vs. Brendan O’Reilly
• Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Daniel Kelly
• Seo Hee Ham vs. Bec Rawlings
• Johnny Case vs. Jake Matthews
• Viscardi Andrade vs. Richard Walsh
• Ross Pearson vs. Abel Trujillo
• Chad Laprise vs. Alan Patrick
• Mark Eddiva vs. Daniel Hooker
• Rin Nakai vs. Leslie Smith
• Ben Nguyen vs. Justin Scoggins

For more on UFC Fight Night 85, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.