“The
Ultimate Fighter 31” lightweight winner Kurt
Holobaugh is hoping the third time is the charm.
Holobaugh (20-7, 1 NC), entering into his third stint with the
Ultimate Fighting Championship, will be taking
on Trey
Ogden (16-6, 1 NC) at a UFC
Fight Night event scheduled on March 23. The two lightweights
will do battle inside of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, as first
reported by
MMA Fighting on Thursday. The pairing has since been
confirmed by both fighters in their respective Instagram
pages.
The triangle choke Holobaugh hit on Team Chandler teammate Austin
Hubbard in the finals of TUF 31 counted as his first UFC
victory, which came in his fifth appearance with the promotion. The
Louisiana native first introduced himself to the promotion
following the merger with Strikeforce in 2013 with a one-and-done loss, and
returned in 2018 after getting signed from the first season of
Dana White’s Contender Series. After leaving
the league for the second time in 2019, “The Hurt” picked up a pair
of knockouts over Joziro Boye
and Jose
Luis Verdugo to earn his place on the reality show.
Ogden last competed in November 2023, where he recorded an
arm-triangle choke on Nikolas
Motta late into the third round. Referee Mike Beltran stepped
in, under the belief that Motta had been rendered unconscious, and
Motta’s protests led to a replay review. Ultimately, the officials
determined Beltran’s intervention was premature, and the result was
overturned to a no contest, much to the ire of “Samurai Ghost” and
the fans. The blunder ultimately earned
Sherdog’s 2023 “Robbery of the Year” honors, as Ogden’s win
bonus was stripped away as a result of the reversed call.
The UFC Fight Night card on March 23 will post up inside of the UFC
Apex in Las Vegas, and no headliner is currently on the books. The
limited billing currently includes a featherweight clash between
Julian
Erosa and Ricardo
Ramos, as well as a bantamweight contest pitting Davey Grant
against Cody Gibson.