With just over six weeks until UFC hits New Zealand shores on February 23, the promotion has confirmed a pair of bouts to finalise the card.
Hawaiian Maki Pitolo has been announced to take on Japanese welterweight Takashi Sato. Both are coming off losses inside the UFC. Pitolo travelled to Melbourne where he lost Callan Potter back in October while Sato is coming off a submission defeat at the hands of Belal Muhammad. He had previously defeated Ben Saunders in his UFC debut.
Pitolo holds a 12-5 record while Sato dropped to 15-3 in his last outing.
Also added to the card is a women’s strawweight bout between Tiger Muay Thai trained Looma Lookboonmee (4-1) and Hanna Goldy (5-1) from USA. The Thai 23-year-old made her UFC debut in October and edged a split decision against Aleksandra Albu while Goldy wasn’t as lucky in her Octagon outing, losing a decision against Miranda Granger.
News of the match-ups was first reported by The NZ Herald.
The full fight card now stands at 13-bouts with the promotion unable to find an opponent Vinicius Moreira following Tyson Pedro’s withdrawal from the event due to an injury.
Bout order as per the UFC site.
Main Card:
- Paul Felder vs. Dan Hooker
- Jimmy Crute vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Yan Xiaonan
- Benjamin Sosoli vs. Marcos Rogerio De Lima
- Bradley Riddell vs. Mogomed Mustafaev
- Kevin Aguilar vs. Zubaira Tukhugov
Preliminary Card:
- Jamie Mullarkey vs. Jalin Turner
- Jake Matthews vs. Emil Weber Meek
- Callan Potter vs. Song Kenan
- Kai-Kara France vs. Tyson Nam
- Rachael Ostovich vs. Shana Dobson
- Loma Lookboonmee vs. Hannah Goldy
- Maki Pitolo vs. Takashi Sato
