Over the past few days the UFC bass has been building up its return card to Sweden. On Saturday three more match-ups were added to the UFC on FUEL TV 9 card, as Matt Mitrione goes to battle with Philip De Fries, Ben Alloway takes on Ryan LaFlare and former Strikeforce fighter Ryan Couture will go against Ross Pearson.
UFC officials announced the latest match-ups on Saturday morning.
Mitrione (5-2) has lost his last two bouts after going undefeated for his first five. He fell short at UFC 137 to Cheick Kongo and most recently lost by TKO to Roy Nelson at the Ultimate Fighter 16 finale. The former professional football player was expected to take on De Fries at UFC 155, however with Shane Carwin getting injured he was forced to withdraw from the bout to take his spot against Nelson.
De Fries (9-2) is 2-2 inside the Octagon, most recently he lost by TKO to Todd Duffee at UFC 155 this past December. He will look to return to the win column and keep his UFC career alive.
Alloway (13-3) is riding a six fight winning streak with his most recent victory coming by front kick KO against Manuel Rodriguez at UFC on FX 6. The Australian based fighter made it to the quarter-finals on TUF Smashes.
LaFlare (7-0) will make his promotional debut after winning his first seven fights under the Ring of Combat banner. Most recently he picked up a submission victory over Andrew Osborne at Ring Of Combat 43. That fight was his first in more than two and a half years. He was expected to debut with World Series of Fighting against Josh Burkman in March, however will be making his debut with the UFC instead.
Couture (6-1) will look to keep his winning streak alive. He is currently riding a four fight winning streak all under the Strikeforce banner. The son of UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture will look to continue in his father’s footsteps and write his own history in the Octagon.
Pearson (14-6) went 3-0 to start his UFC career, including winning the TUF 9. However, since the TUF victory, the Brit has gone 3-3 inside the Octagon. Most recently The Alliance MMA fighter beat fellow TUF Smashes coach George Sotiropoulos by third round TKO at UFC on FX 6 in Australia.
UFC on FUEL TV 9 goes down from the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. The main event is a light heavyweight tussle between hometown favorite Alexander Gustafsson and former Strikeforcefighter Gegard Mousasi.
