MANILA, Philippines – The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s second live event in the country on October 15 continues to take shape, as the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization adds two more bouts to the fight card.
Cole Miller squares off with Japanese featherweight Mizuto “Pugnus” Hirota, while South Korea’s Seo Hee Ham battles American fighter Danielle Taylor in a 3-round strawweight contest.
Promotion officials publicly confirmed UFC Fight Night Manila 2’s undercard match-ups on Tuesday, August 30.
Miller (21-9, 1 NC) will be making his second appearance in 2016 and is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Alex Caceres last June.
The last time that Miller had his hand raised in triumph was when he submitted Sam Sicilia with a second-round rear-naked choke in January 2014.
The 32-year-old American Top Team representative was supposed to lock horns with BJ Penn in his comeback fight at UFC 199 in June, but the confrontation was canceled when the latter disclosed his usage of IV in the pre-fight drug test
In the other corner, Hirota (17-7-2) is fresh from his anticlimactic encounter against compatriot Teruto Ishihara in September 2015, which resulted to a split draw.
Prior to his meeting with Ishihara, Hirota was riding high on a 3-fight winning streak under the banner of the Japanese organization DEEP.
Meanwhile, Ham and Taylor are aiming to redeem themselves as both ladies recently yielded in their respective Octagon outings.
Ham (16-7) bowed down to Bec Rawlings this past March, while Taylor (7-2) chose not to wallow over her tough loss to Maryna Moroz in August.
UFC Fight Night Manila 2, which takes place at the 20,000-seater SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, is headlined by a scheduled 5-round featherweight clash between Penn and Ricardo Lamas. – Rappler.com