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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The first four fights for the UFC's first ever event in Seoul, South Korea, are officially set, with the UFC confirming one additional bout along with the previously reported Benson Henderson vs. Thiago Alves main event, the welterweight bout between Dong Hyun Kim and Jorge Masvidal, and the Mirko Cro Cop vs. Anthony Hamilton fight announced by Cro Cop over the weekend.
The new addition to the event officially set sees Yoshihiro Akiyama return to action against Alberto Mina.
Henderson fights for the second time in the welterweight division, having beaten Brandon Thatch on two weeks notice back in February. The former Champion will try to take out a former title challenger in Alves, who needs a bounce back win after getting stopped by Carlos Condit in May.
Also fighting for the second time at 170 lbs. in the UFC is Masvidal, who made a successful move up in weight just last month. The longtime lightweight competitor knocked out Cezar Ferreira for his first win at 170 lbs. in more than six years. He now takes on Korea's own Kim, who submitted Josh Burkman in his most recent fight in May.
Cro Cop returned to the UFC in April, defeating Gabriel Gonzaga in the main event of the UFC's first ever trip to Poland. Hamilton picked up a win of his own on that card, defeating Daniel Omielanczuk by decision.
Akiyama, a longtime South Korean-Japanese judoka and MMA veteran, represented South Korea when he won the gold medal in the 2001 Asian Judo Championships, and fights in Seoul for the first time since 2007. He picked up his first UFC win since 2009 last September, returning after a two-year layoff to defeat Amir Sadollah. He'll try to make it two in a row against Mina, the undefeated Brazilian who stopped Shinsho Anzai in his UFC debut exactly one year ago.
UFC Fight Night Seoul takes place on November 28 from the Olympic Gymnastics Arena.
[Benson Henderson art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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