The UFC Fight Night lineup on Jan. 15 appears to be nearly complete
with the addition of two new bouts.
T.J.
Brown will square off against Gabriel
Benitez at featherweight, while Caio
Borralho will meet Jamie
Pickett at middleweight at the event, which takes place at the
UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a 145-pound clash between
Calvin
Kattar and Giga
Chikadze. Brown vs. Benitez was announced by
Iridium Sports Agency, while
MMAFighting.com initially reported Borralho vs. Pickett.
Borralho was supposed to step in against Dustin
Stoltzfus at UFC Fight Night 199 on Dec. 18, but he was unable
to compete on that show due ot visa issues.
Brown lost his first two UFC bouts after appearing on Season 3 of
Dana White’s Contender Series. In his most recent outing, the Glory
MMA & Fitness representative secured his first promotional triumph,
a split decision over Kai Kamaka
III at UFC on ESPN 23.
Benitez has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances,
including a third-round TKO defeat at the hands of Billy
Quarantillo in his last bout at UFC on ESPN 26. “Moggly” is 6-5
during his tenure witht the Las Vegas-based organization.
Borralho earned a pair of victories on the Contender Series in
2021. He was not awarded a UFC contract after outpointed Aaron
Jeffrey on Sept. 28, but he impressed Dana White when he stopped
Jesse
Murray in the opening stanza of their Oct. 19 encounter. The
28-year-old Brazilian is 10-1 with one no contest over the course
of a professional tenure that began in 2014.
Also a Contender Series alum, Pickett earned his first promotional
win in three tries at UFC Fight Night 196, where he outpointed
Laureano
Staropoli on Oct. 23. Prior to that, “The Nightwolf” had fallen
to Tafon
Nchukwi and Jordan
Wright in UFC competition.