Dunham-Guillard Official for UFC Fight Night 23

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Melvin Guillard will meet Evan Dunham in the main event of UFC “Fight for the Troops 2,” going down Jan. 22 at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas.

Sherdog.com reported the rumored matchup earlier this month, and the bout was made official today in the most recent episode of UFC.com's “Ultimate Insider.”

Dunham was originally supposed to meet two-time title challenger Kenny Florian, but Guillard was called to action after Florian went down with an injury. The event will be the second UFC “Fight for the Troops” event and will benefit wounded military personnel and their families.

Dunham's last trip inside the Octagon ended less than ideally, as his undefeated record was blemished after a hotly-contested split decision loss to former titleholder Sean Sherk. Though Sherk controlled the first round, badly lacerating the Oregonian with typical “Muscle Shark” ground-and-pound, Dunham showed great resiliency, fighting back and arguably winning the final two rounds. Though he did not get his hand raised at UFC 119 in September, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt was awarded “Fight of the Night” for his efforts. Dunham is 4-1 in the UFC and has notched victories over Marcus Aurelio, Efrain Escudero and Tyson Griffin during his time with the promotion.

Guillard is riding a three-fight winning streak heading into his bout with Dunham, most recently outpointing heavy-handed Jeremy Stephens at UFC 119. The 27-year-old has won six of his last seven fights, including victories over Dennis Siver, Gleison Tibau and Waylon Lowe. His only loss in that span came to “Ultimate Fighter 5” winner Nate Diaz. “The Young Assassin” holds 14 of his 25 career victories by knockout. Though seven of his eight defeats have come by way of submission, Guillard has never suffered a KO.