The lineup for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s recently-announced card in Auckland, New Zealand continues to grow, as the promotion announced three new bouts for the event on Wednesday evening.
Jake Matthews will meet Emil Meek at welterweight; Tyson Pedro will square off against Vinicius Moreira Castro at light heavyweight and Ben Sosoli will lock horns with Marcos Rogerio de Lima at heavyweight.
UFC Auckland takes place at Spark Arena and is headlined by a lightweight contest pitting Paul Felder against Dan Hooker. The card will likely air on ESPN+.
Matthews has won four of his last five promotional appearances, including a unanimous decision triumph over Rostem Akman in his most recent outing at UFC 243. Meek, meanwhile, did not compete this year after dropping a pair of decisions to Kamaru Usman and Bartosz Fabinski in 2018.
Pedro was also inactive in 2019 after concluding 2018 with back-to-back setbacks at the hands of Ovince St. Preux and Mauricio Rua. The 30-year-old Castro has lost his first three UFC outings after earning a contract with a victory on the Brazilian edition of Dana White’s Contender Series.
Sosoli’s Octagon debut — which would have initially been a decision defeat — was changed to a no contest at UFC on ESPN 6 after opponent Greg Hardy illegally used an inhaler between rounds. De Lima is 5-4 since beginning his promotional tenure in 2014, including a submission loss to Stefan Struve in his most recent appearance at UFC Fight Night 145.