by King Hazard
In anticipation of its first-ever event in Halifax, Nova Scotia, The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) organization announced an updated fight card for the event at the Halifax Metro Centre on October 4. UFC FIGHT NIGHT: MACDONALD vs. SAFFIEDINE will feature a five-round main event pitting two of the best welterweights against one another as second-ranked Rory “Ares” MacDonald (17-2, fighting out of Montreal) takes on ninth-ranked Tarec “The Sponge” Saffiedine (15-3, fighting out of Temecula, CA) in a bout that could determine the division’s next title contender.
Additional bouts for UFC FIGHT NIGHT: MACDONALD vs. SAFFIEDINE include:
· The Ultimate Fighter Nations middleweight winner Elias Theodorou (9-0, fighting out of Toronto) meets Bruno Santos (14-1, fighting out of Bahia, Brazil)
· The Ultimate Fighter Nations welterweight winner Chad Laprise (9-0, fighting out of Montreal) vs. Yosdenis Cedeno (10-3, fighting out of Miami, Florida) in a lightweight bout
· Two of the bantamweight division’s brightest prospects go head-to-head as Mitch Gagnon (11-2, fighting out of Sudbury, Ontario) meets Aljamain Sterling (10-0, fighting out of Uniondale, NY)
· Judo black belt Olivier Aubin-Mercier (5-1, fighting out of Montreal) vs. 9-1 lightweight Jake Lindsey (fighting out of Manhattan, Kansas)
· Coming off a big knockout in his UFC debut, Maritimer Jason Saggo (10-1, fighting out of Charlottetown, PEI) will meet 8-0 Paul “The Irish Dragon” Felder in his UFC debut
· Riding a five-fight win streak, newly signed Canadian Matt Dwyer (7-1, fighting out of Kelowna, British Columbia) will make his UFC debut in a welterweight clash against 13-2 Albert Tumenov (fighting out of Fairfield, New Jersey)
Other previously announced bouts on the card include:
· No.3 ranked Raphael Assuncao (21-4, fighting out of Alpharetta, Georgia) goes to battle against No. 8 Bryan Caraway (19-7, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada) in a pivotal bantamweight match-up
· Women’s strawweight bout between Paige VanZant (3-1, fighting out of Sparks, Nevada) and Kailin Curran (3-0, fighting out of Ewa Beach, Hawaii)
· Canada’s Nordine Taleb (9-2, fighting out of Montreal) vs. 9-2 Chinese welterweight Li Jingliang
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