What appears to be the final rumored bout for next month’s UFC Fight Night 21 event is now official; middleweight Gerald Harris (14-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC), in fact, will fight Mario Miranda (11-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at the upcoming show. MMAjunkie first reported the Harris vs. Miranda bout earlier this month, and the UFC today made it official.UFC Fight Night 21, which precedes the debut episode of “The Ultimate Fighter 11,” takes place March 31 at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C., and airs on Spike TV.Harris vs. Miranda is part of the night’s un-aired preliminary card.
Harris looks to build off his first UFC win. “The Ultimate Fighter 7″ cast member was released after the show but fought his way back into the UFC after posting a seven-fight win streak in outside organizations. The stint included a fight with Shark Fights, where he defeated former WEC/UFC fighter Nissen Osterneck for the promotion’s middleweight title.
Harris then called into MMAjunkie Radio while UFC president Dana White was an in-studio guest. The UFC boss told him to touch base the following week, and Harris then was booked for UFC Fight Night 20 in January against fellow late replacement John Salter. Harris scored a third-round TKO victory that earned him a $30,000 “Knockout of the Night” bonus. It also extended the three-time NCAA Division I wrestling national qualifier’s win streak to eight fights.
He now meets Mirando, a four-year pro who’s fought primarily in the U.S. Northeast. He’s posted stoppages in nine of his 11 career wins; five came via submission and four via knockout. Past victories came over current UFC fighter Rick Story, former UFC fighter Joe Vedepo, and one-time Strikeforce fighters Mike Hayes and Chad Vance. Mirando comes from a Brazilian jiu-jitsu background, was a four-time Brazilian champion in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, and won a South American championship. But the 6-foot-3 fighter fell short of his goal of making an Olympic team.
On the other hand A previously reported lightweight bout between British veteran Terry Etim (14-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) and Brazilian Rafael dos Anjos (13-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) is the final addition to April’s UFC 112 televised main card.The UFC also today made official two preliminary card fights: lightweights Paul Kelly (9-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) vs. Matt Veach (11-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and light heavyweights Phil Davis (5-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) vs. Alexander Gustafsson (9-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC).
UFC 112, which airs on pay-per-view, takes place at Concert Arena (at the Ferrari World theme park on Yas Island) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.The UFC’s first-ever Middle Eastern card features two title fights: middleweight champion Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia and lightweight champion B.J. Penn vs. Frankie Edgar.
Amazingly, after seven previous UFC appearances, Etim finally earns a spot on a main card. The quietly rising contender has posted four consecutive victories (over Sam Stout, Brian Cobb, Justin Buchholz and Shannon Gugerty), and the past two earned him a pair of “Submission of the Night” bonuses. Competing in his seventh non-U.S. UFC event, Etim takes on dos Anjos, who rebounded from back-to-back losses (to Jeremy Stephens and Tyson Griffin) in his first two UFC appearances with recent unanimous-decision victories over Rob Emerson and Kyle Bradley.
Kelly competes in his sixth overseas UFC card. After back-to-back unanimous decision wins over Troy Mandaloniz and Roli Delgado, the British fighter suffered a stunning spinning-back-kick TKO loss to Dennis Siver at UFC 105. He now meets the scrappy Veach, who made his UFC debut and defeated Matt Grice in a back-and-forth slugfest at UFC Fight Night 17. Veach took a significant step up in competition when he faced now-top contender Frankie Edgar at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale this past December and was submitted in the second round. The loss was Veach’s first setback in 12 professional appearances.
Davis, a former NCAA Division I national wrestling champion at Penn State, makes a quick return to the UFC. He made his UFC debut earlier this month at UFC 109 and easily defeated former WEC champ Brian Stann via unanimous decision. He now meets Gustafsson, a Swedish competitor who recently made his promotional debut against Jared Hamman at UFC 105 in November. Gustafsson posted a 41-second knockout; in fact, among his nine career wins, seven have now come via KO or TKO (six in the first round).
