“UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard III” has added yet another bout to its October card as UFC officials today announced that Darren Elkins (12-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) will meet Tiequan Zhang (13-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in a featherweight showdown.
The October 8th card will be headlined by two title fights with both the lightweight and featherweight UFC belts being placed on the line. The night’s main card airs on pay-per-view.
Elkins vs. Zhang will likely take place on the evening’s unaired preliminary card.
As the fight announcement was released UFC President Dana White explained that in this fight “China’s best prospect, Tiequan Zhang, makes his return to the octagon versus the always-tough Darren Elkins at UFC 136.”
Elkins will take on Zhang after scoring a controversial decision win over Michihiro Omigawa at UFC 131. Many critics and fans, including Dana White, thought that Omigawa won the fight, but Elkins is now out to prove that his UFC 131 victory was not a fluke and will be looking to win his next bout decisively. UFC 136 will be Ekins’ second fight as a featherweight.
On the other side of this bout we have Zhang, who will be looking to score his second straight victory under the UFC banner after his submission victory Jason Reinhardt at February’s UFC 127 event.
With so much potential possessed by both fighters and with the featherweight division still being fairly new in the UFC this fight could very well be a catapult bout for the victor, which always adds a ton more excitement in to the already exciting featherweight fights. so with both fighters coming off of UFC victories, who do the fans think will walk away with the win in October?
- By Jake Chastain
