UFC Fight Night 24 Announced; Garcia-Phan Rematch Official

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As expected, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will make its first ever trip to Seattle on March 26, as the promotion will hold UFC Fight Night 24 at Key Arena.

The UFC today made the event official and announced the first signed bout on the card: a featherweight rematch between Leonard Garcia and Nam Phan.

The event, which airs live on Spike TV, is likely to be headlined by a light heavyweight matchup between former champion Tito Ortiz and Pride Fighting Championships veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

The controversial first meeting between Garcia and Phan took place at “The Ultimate Fighter 12” finale in December. Although Phan consistently beat Garcia to the punch, out-striking the Greg Jackson product as tallied by both CompuStrike and Fight Metric, Garcia was awarded a split decision victory in what was deemed Sherdog.com’s 2010 “Robbery of the Year.”

Prior to that contest, Phan had competed on Season 12 of “TUF,” losing in the semifinals to eventual runner-up Michael Johnson. Phan began his fighting career in 2001 and has fought some of the best lightweight and featherweight competitors in the world, including Josh Thomson, Michihiro Omigawa and Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante. The 27-year-old has lost four of his last six fights.

Known for his wild offense and gutsy performances, Garcia has earned “Fight of the Night” honors in three of his last four performances. After fighting George Roop to a split draw in March, Garcia took part in a “Fight of the Year” candidate against Chan Sung Jung at WEC 48 in April, edging out another much-debated split decision. He came up on the wrong end of the judges’ scorecards in his next outing, however, as he was out-pointed by the more accurate Mark Hominick at WEC 51.

Also rumored for UFC Fight Night 24 is a welterweight scrap between former title challenger Dan Hardy and the returning Anthony Johnson, as well as a heavyweight tilt pitting Mike Russow against Jon Madsen.