A pair of South Koreans will go to battle with two “TUF” alumni at UFC 173 in May.
Sam Sicilia (12-4) meets Doo Ho Choi (11-1) at Featherweight, while Kyung Ho Kang (12-7, 1 NC) clashes with Chris Holdsworth (5-0) at 135-lbs.
UFC 173 adds Sicilia-Choi, Kang-Holdsworth
UFC officials announced the bouts this past week.
UFC 173 takes place May 24th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event, which will be headlined by a Middleweight title affair between champ Chris Weidman (11-0) and challenger Vitor Belfort (24-10), airs LIVE on PPV following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.
Sicilia dropped to 2-3 in his past five outings following a submission defeat at the hands of Cole Miller at UFC Fight Night 35. Prior to that Jekyll and Hyde run, the 28-year-old knocked out Cristiano Marcello in his promotional debut at the TUF: 15 Finale.
Choi, at a tender age of 22, will be fighting for the first time outside of Asia. On a nine fight winning streak, Choi’s most recent appearance against Shoji Maruyama at DEEP Cage Impact 2013 took the plaudits, and was seen by many as Asian MMA’s 2013 Fight of the Year. Nine of the South Korean’s eleven victories have ended via stoppage.
Holdsworth is yet to taste defeat in his pro MMA career having garnered a perfect 5-0 resume. He was the winner of Season 18 of “The Ultimate Fighter”, garnering those honors by submitting Davey Grant via Rear-Naked choke in the finale.
Kang (pictured), 26, a stablemate of Dong Hyun Kim’s, finally notched his first UFC victory at UFC Fight Night 34 in Singapore, submitting Shunichi Shimizu impressively via Arm-Triangle choke in the third frame. A former ROAD FC vet, Kang is 6-3, 1 NC in his past ten outings.
Keep it locked to MMASucka.com for more updates on UFC 173.
*Photo credit: Ultimate Fighting Championship
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