KILLEEN, Texas — The UFC confirmed Friday the remaining bouts for “Fight for the Troops 2” which is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 22 at Fort Hood, Texas and will air LIVE on Spike TV at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. The event is being held on the Fort Hood military base and will serve to raise funds for the honorable men and women in the United States Armed Forces who suffer from traumatic brain injuries.
MAIN CARD
Headlining the card is a lightweight bout between Jackson MMA’s Melvin “The Young Assassin” Guillard (26-8-2-1) and top-10 ranked Evan Dunham (11-1), who many feel should still be undefeated after losing a controversial split decision against Sean Sherk at UFC 119 in September.
After going undefeated in 2008, then winning his first bout of 2009, Guillard dropped a submission loss to Nate Diaz at UFC Fight Night 19 in Sept. 2009. Then in 2010, he went undefeated again by scoring wins over Ronys Torres, Waylon Lowe and Jeremy Stephens. Now riding a ton of momentum combined with a renewed commitment and focus, Guillard has put himself in the lightweight contender picture if he can get through Dunham.
The same goes for Dunham, another win for him will have him knocking on the 155-pound championship door. It appears White, who said he believes Dunham won the bout against Sherk, is not holding the loss against him.
Also competing on the televised main card is a heavyweight bout between the still undefeated TUF 10 veteran Matt “Meathead” Mitrione (3-0) and the former kindergarten teacher turned cagefighter, Tim “The Thrashing Machine” Hague (12-4). Mitrione fought twice in 2010, scoring wins over Kimbo Slice and Joey Beltran.
Hague needed to go pick up a couple of wins outside the UFC after he started 2010 with a pair of losses in the Octagon. Following back-to-back first round knockouts of Zak Jensen and Travis Wiuff in Canada’s Aggression MMA, Hague faces a tough return to the UFC against Mitrione.
Continuing on with the televised card, Canadian Mark Hominick (19-8) has been promised a title shot against featherweight champ Jose Aldo if he can get past The Ultimate Fighter season 8 veteran George Roop (11-6-1). Hominick has won four in a row now and seven of his last 10, including a hard-fought split decision over Leonard Garcia at WEC 51 in September. Roop is coming off a second round head kick knockout of “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung on the same card.
Heavyweight knockout artists Pat Barry (5-2) and Joey Beltran (12-4) will clash. Barry is coming off a submission loss to Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 115 last June after breaking his hand and foot early in the fight. He insists, contrary to popular belief, he did not show Cro Cop “too much respect” and that is what led to his demise. Beltran, now 2-1 in the UFC, is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Mitrione at UFC 119.
Rounding out the televised card is a lightweight match-up between a pair of The Ultimate Fighter season 5 veterans, Cole “Mangrinho” Miller (17-4) and “Handsome” Matt Wiman (12-5). Both guys would like to eventually put together enough wins in a row to get their names in title contention talk.
Both have won their last two so this is an important step in that process. Miller is coming off a pair of 2010 submission wins against Dan Lauzon at UFC 108 and Ross Pearson at Fight Night 22, and Wiman won a first round submission over Mac Danzig at UFC 115 last year, and before that, a unanimous decision over Shane Nelson at UFC 107.
PRELIMINARY CARD
Headlining the preliminary card will be a welterweight match-up between DaMarques Johnson (16-8) and Michael Guymon (13-4-1). Guymon could be on the chopping block here having lost two of his three UFC bouts since debuting with the promotion last year. His most recent bout was a first round submission loss to Daniel Roberts at UFC 121. Johnson is 2-2 in the UFC and is coming off a TKO loss to Matt Riddle at UFC Live 2.
Lightweight pioneer Yves Edwards (39-16-1) will take on Mr. Guillotine and The Ultimate Fighter season 12 veteran Cody McKenzie (12-0). McKenzie won his UFC debut with a first round submission over Aaron Wilkinson and will be looking to add to his undefeated record as he faces a 13-year veteran who has more wins by submission than McKenzie has fights.
In another lightweight match-up, Waylon Lowe (9-3), a Division II 3x national collegiate wrestling champion will look for his second win in the Octagon as he takes on dangerous Brazilian submission specialist Wilamy Freire (17-3), who is a training partner of Jose Aldo and is making his UFC debut. Lowe is coming off a split decision win over Steve Lopez at UFC 119 in September and Freire has won his last 11 fights, mainly in Shooto.
Former Division I wrestler Charlie Brenneman (12-1) will face fellow welterweight Amilcar Alves (11-2) of Brazil. Brennaman won his UFC debut against Jason High last year but dropped his most recent bout via second round TKO to Johny Hendricks at UFC 117. Alves is coming off a loss in his UFC debut against Mike Pierce via armbar at UFC 118. It was his first loss in three years.
Brazilian submission master Rani Yahya (15-6) needs a win and he will be looking for that victory when he makes his UFC debut against former WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown (24-7) who just fought on Jan. 1. Yahya dropped his last two WEC bouts to Joseph Benavidez via TKO and Takeya Mizugaki via decision. Brown is coming off a split decision loss to Diego Nunes at UFC 125.
In the “Fight for the Troops 2” opening bout, Muay Thai specialist and BJJ purple belt Chris Cariaso (10-2) will take on well-rounded Will Campuzano (8-3) in a bantamweight affair. Cariaso makes his UFC debut after going 1-1 in the WEC and Campuzano is looking to rebound after getting submitted with less than half a minute to go in his UFC debut against Nick Pace at the TUF 12 Finale in December.
UFC FIGHT FOR THE TROOPS 2
MAIN CARD (Televised – Spike TV)
- Melvin Guillard vs. Evan Dunham
- Matt Mitrione vs. Tim Hague
- Mark Hominick vs. George Roop
- Patrick Barry vs. Joey Beltran
- Cole Miller vs. Matt Wiman
PRELIMINARY CARD (Not Televised)
- DaMarques Johnson vs. Michael Guymon
- Yves Edwards vs. Cody McKenzie
- Waylon Lowe vs. Willamy Freire
- Amilcar Alves vs. Charlie Brenneman
- Rani Yahya vs. Mike Thomas Brown
- Will Campuzano vs. Chris Cariaso