Undefeated lightweight prospect
Pat Audinwood will make his promotional debut against
Thiago Tavares in a preliminary matchup at
UFC 119 “Mir vs. Cro Cop” on Sept. 25 at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Eleven fights are now official for the event, which will air live on pay-per-view.
Audinwood has rattled off four consecutive victories since his July 2008 encounter with
Andrew Montanez ended in a draw under the Battle Cage Xtreme banner; he won a majority decision from Montanez two months later. Based at Team Bombsquad in Cortland, N.Y., Audinwood has gone the distance in five of his last six fights. The 24-year-old last appeared in April, when he defeated
Robert Conner by unanimous decision inside the M-1 Selection series.
Tavares, who replaced an injured
Aaron Riley, has not competed since he battled
Nik Lentz to a draw at UFC Fight Night 20 in January. A black belt in judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, the 25-year-old Brazilian has secured 10 of his 14 career victories by submission and owns wins over world-ranked featherweights
Manny Gamburyan and
Michihiro Omigawa. In 18 professional appearances, Tavares has been finished only once.
A showdown between former heavyweight champion
Frank Mir and 2006 Pride Fighting Championships open weight grand prix winner Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic will headline UFC 119, along with a pivotal light heavyweight duel between undefeated “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 8 winner
Ryan Bader and
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. The event will also feature a lightweight tilt pitting
Melvin Guillard against
Jeremy Stephens and a welterweight rematch pairing former champion
Matt Serra with
Chris Lytle. In addition, one-time UFC lightweight titleholder
Sean Sherk will collide with the unbeaten
Evan Dunham.
Frank Mir vs.
Mirko Filipovic
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs.
Ryan Bader
Matt Serra vs.
Chris Lytle
Evan Dunham vs.
Sean Sherk
Jeremy Stephens vs.
Melvin Guillard
C.B. Dollaway vs.
Joe Doerksen
Matt Mitrione vs.
Joey Beltran
Waylon Lowe vs.
Steve Lopez
Thiago Tavares vs.
Pat Audinwood
T.J. Grant vs.
Julio Paulino
Mark Hunt vs.
Sean McCorkle
Printer Friendly
