All eyes will be on UFC 194 the week of December 12th, but the night before that is the TUF 22 Finale in Las Vegas, Nevada. The UFC confirmed a pair of fights for the Fox Sports 1 event: Joe Lauzon vs. Evan Dunham at lightweight, and Mike Pierce vs. Ryan LaFlare at welterweight. Neither bout will be the main event, which will be announced at a later date.
Lauzon (25-10) got back to winning ways in July by finishing Takanori Gomi in 1 round and also calling off the fight on his own before Herb Dean officially did so. The TUF 5 veteran and prolific post-fight bonus collector has won 3 of his last 4, with the one loss coming in January to rising star Al Iaquinta. Dunham (16-6) has won two straight by decision, besting Brazil’s Rodrigo Damm and then grinding out a clean sweep on the scorecards over England’s Ross Pearson. This mini-winning run has come at a much-needed time after he’d dropped 3 straight beforehand.
Pierce (17-6) has been out of action since October 2013 when Rousimar Palhares did Rousimar Palhares things to his knee, which resulted in Palhares’ seemingly permanent expulsion from the UFC. Having recovered from a torn MCL and torn ankle ligament, a broken hand prevented him from returning last year against Demian Maia. Prior to the Palhares loss, Pierce had won 4 straight. LaFlare (11-1) saw his undefeated record come to an end against Maia in a UFC Fight Night main event back in March. The Long Island native dropped a decision to the decorated BJJ specialist despite a late 5th round rally. While all of LaFlare’s wins in Ring of Combat were by finish, all of his UFC fights have gone the distance.
No venue has been confirmed for The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale. Conor McGregor and Urijah Faber are the two coaches for this US vs. Europe themed lightweight season.
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