Two new fights in the lighter weight classes have been added to the already stacked UFC 194 fight card in Las Vegas on December 12th.
First up, featherweight rising star Max Holloway will put his seven fight winning streak on the line against Jeremy Stephens.
Holloway is currently ranked No.5 in the division after taking out the likes of Cole Miller, Cub Swanson and most recently Charles Oliveira (albeit due to a freak injury), so he’s riding a wave of momentum and what’s most impressive is that he’s still just 23 years old.
Stephens is six years older than Holloway and not so long ago was coming off back-to-back defeats inside the Octagon, but an impressive TKO finish against Dennis Bermudez has put him back on track and served as a reminder that he’s still a very dangerous fighter.
Also booked for UFC 194 is TUF 22 coach Urijah Faber who’s headed back down to the bantamweight division to take on Frankie Saenz.
Faber had briefly moved back up to featherweight to face Frankie Edgar, but struggled to make an impact against the former lightweight champion and lost out by unanimous decision.
‘The California Kid’ is actually now 36 years old and still holds down the No.4 spot in the 135lb ranks, while his opponent Saenz, who’s just a year younger than him, is really just finding his way in the division, breaking in at No.14 following a three fight winning run since joining the UFC a year ago.
UFC 194 has quite the line-up now in place with the main card being headlined by blockbuster featherweight title action as Jose Aldo finally faces Conor McGregor with middleweight champion Chris Weidman looking to defend his title against Luke Rockhold and two of that division’s top contenders Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza and Yoel Romero clashing in what could prove to be a title eliminator.