UFC ‘Fight for the Troops 2’ Card Complete with 11 Bouts

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Former WEC featherweight champion Mike Thomas Brown will face Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Rani Yahya at UFC “Fight for the Troops 2” on Jan. 22 at Ford Hood outside of Killeen, Texas.

News of Brown stepping in for the injured Chan Sung Jung first broke last week, and the switch was confirmed on Tuesday by the UFC. The bout completes the 11-fight card, which is the UFC’s second event benefiting the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, a not-for-profit organization which supports severely wounded U.S. military personnel and their families.

Brown re-enters the Octagon just three weeks after dropping a razor-thin split decision to Nova União prospect Diego Nunes at UFC 125. The 35-year-old American Top Team representative has struggled since losing his WEC title to Nunes’ teammate, Jose Aldo, in November 2009. Since then, Brown alternated wins and losses, submitting Anthony Morrison and knocking out Cole Province, while losing to Nunes and being knocked out by Manny Gamburyan.

After beginning his WEC career with first-round submissions of Yoshiro Maeda, Eddie Wineland and John Hosman, Yahya was defeated in his final two bouts for the promotion. In December 2009, he was punched out by Team Alpha Male standout Joseph Benavidez in 95 seconds. In his most recent outing, Yahya lost a unanimous decision to onetime title contender Takeya Mizugaki at WEC 48. The 26-year-old holds a career mark of 15-6, with 14 of those wins coming by way of submission.

“Fight for the Troops 2” will be headlined by a lightweight showdown between once-beaten prospect Evan Dunham and resurgent “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 2 participant Melvin Guillard. Bolstering the televised portion of the card are a pair of heavyweight contests -- featuring Matt Mitrione against Tim Hague and Patrick Barry versus Joey Beltran -- as well as a featherweight attraction pitting Mark Hominick against George Roop, and a lightweight bout between Cole Miller and Matt Wiman.

UFC “Fight for the Troops 2”
Saturday, Jan. 22
Fort Hood
Killeen, Texas

Evan Dunham vs. Melvin Guillard
Matt Mitrione vs. Tim Hague
Mark Hominick vs. George Roop
Patrick Barry vs. Joey Beltran
Cole Miller vs. Matt Wiman
Cody McKenzie vs. Yves Edwards
DaMarques Johnson vs. Michael Guymon
Mike Thomas Brown vs. Rani Yahya
Waylon Lowe vs. Willamy Freire
Charlie Brenneman vs. Amilcar Alves
Will Campuzano vs. Chris Cariaso