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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief UFC newcomer Ryan Madigan will be tested right off the bat in his debut fight. He's set to replace an injured Dustin Hazelett in a bout against Ben Saunders at UFC 96 in Columbus, Ohio. MMAJunkie reported on the bout earlier today.
Hazelett had to pull out of the fight due to an undisclosed injury, so that opened up the door for Ohio native Madigan to debut at the Columbus bout. Madigan has a perfect 5-0 record in MMA coming into the UFC after having previously competed as a kickboxer.
Saunders was of course a member of the sixth season of the Ultimate Fighter, and is coming off of a brutal tko victory over Brandon Wolff at the Fight Night 16: Fight for the Troops event.
UFC 96 comes live on pay-per-view on March 7th from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH.
Penick's Analysis: Losing Hazelett is a killer blow to this card. That fight with Saunders would have been a legitimate selling point as Hazelett's always fun to watch and Saunders has been very impressive himself. With a card already suffering from bad match-ups and lack of star power this isn't going to help it one bit. It's always enjoyable to see if a new fighter can make a splash, and Madigan could certainly do so, but it's not going to appease those that were looking forward to another Hazelett bout.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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