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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC's return to Las Vegas on May 26 for UFC 146 is filling up quickly, as the organization on Wednesday night announced three new fights, while confirming two more that were previously reported.
New additions to the card see Strikeforce vet Shane Del Rosario make his UFC debut against former title challenger Gabriel Gonzaga, recently signed Glover Teixeira taking on Kyle Kingsbury in a light heavyweight bout, and Ultimate Fighter season 14 featherweight winner Diego Brandao taking on Darren Elkins.
Along with those three fights, the UFC confirmed the Dan Hardy vs. Duane "Bang" Ludwig bout reported earlier today, and the lightweight bout between Jacob Volkmann and Paul Sass.
Del Rosario returns to action for the first time since February of last year. The 11-0 heavyweight was set to face Daniel Cormier last June, but suffered an injury in a car accident that kept him out of action the rest of the year. With Strikeforce's heavyweights getting transitioned over, he'll get a tough veteran draw in his first bout in the Octagon.
Gonzaga returned to the UFC in January for the first time since October of 2010, and picked up his first UFC win since August of 2009 when he submitted Ednaldo Oliveira in the first round.
Teixeira will enter the UFC's light heavyweight field after competing at both heavyweight and 205 lbs. throughout his career. He rides a 15-fight winning streak dating back to 2006.
Kingsbury, meanwhile, hopes to rebound from a decision loss to Stephan Bonnar in his last fight. That loss snapped a four fight winning streak in the organization, and was just the third loss in his career.
Brandao won the title of "The Ultimate Fighter" in December with a fantastic armbar submission over Dennis Bermudez in the final minute of the first round. That win was his fourth straight without the exhibition fights in the TUF house.
Elkins has picked up consecutive wins in the UFC since dropping to featherweight. In the lightweight division he went 1-1 in the UFC, with the win coming when Duane Ludwig suffered a nasty ankle injury. After a loss to Charles Oliveira, Elkins moved to 145 lbs., and has defeated Michihiro Omigawa and Tiequan Zhang by decision since then.
The UFC 146 card is headlined by a Heavyweight Championship bout between Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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