Two lightweight matchups have been added to the UFC
281 card, as Dan Hooker
will square off against Claudio
Puelles, while Renato
Carneiro will lock horns with Brad
Riddell.
Advertisement
Promotion broadcast partner ESPN
confirmed Hooker vs. Puelles following an initial report from
Fordewin MMA. Meanwhile, Carneiro’s management was first to
announce the matchup with Riddell.
Hooker has lost four of his last five Octagon appearances. The
32-year-old City Kickboxing representative will return to 155
pounds on the heels of a first-round TKO loss to Arnold
Allen at featherweight in his most recent outing at UFC Fight
Night 204 on March 19.
Puelles, meanwhile, has been on a roll since falling to Martin
Bravo in his promotional debut. The “Prince of Peru” has been
victorious in five straight Octagon appearances, including a
first-round kneebar of Clay Guida at
UFC Fight Night 205 on April 23.
“Moicano” had a two-bout winning streak snapped in his last fight,
when he dropped a five-round verdict to Rafael dos
Anjos at UFC 272. Prior to that, the Brazilian had scored
back-to-back submission victories against Alexander
Hernandez and Jai
Herbert.
Riddell began his UFC tenure with four consecutive victories but
has since been finished in back-to-back fights. Most recently, the
30-year-old New Zealand native tapped to a Jalin
Turner guillotine choke in 45 seconds at UFC 276 on July 2.
UFC 281 takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 12
and is headlined by a middelweight title clash between Israel
Adesanya and Alex
Pereira. The Las Vegas-based promotion confirmed three more
fights in release on Tuesday: Karolina
Kowalkiewicz vs. Silvana
Gomez Juarez at strawweight; Matt
Frevola vs. Ottman
Azaitar at lightweight and Michael
Trizano vs. Seung Woo
Choi at featherweight.