UFC sophomore TJ Grant -- after recently spinning through a a revolving door of possible opponents -- is now set to tangle with Korean import Dong Hyun Kim in a welterweight showdown at UFC 100 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 11.
Members close to the situation earlier today informed MMAmania.com about the 170-pound bout.
Grant originally agreed to battle top welterweight contender Martin Kampmann at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 9 Finale at "The Pearl" at the Palms Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 20. However, "The Hitman" refused to sign the bout agreement, stating that a match with the up-and-coming Grant "didn’t make sense" for him.
Then just a month out from the event, he was penciled in to face off against hard-hitting slugger and International Fight League ( IFL) veteran, Rory Markham, but now that pursuit has fallen to the wayside after Markham had to pull out of the bout with an injury just days before it was set to go down.
That left Grant’s camp scrambling to find for another opponent on short notice. And luckily they found one in a game Dong Hyun Kim, who was recently left opponentless himself when Jonathan Goulet was forced to pull out of their bout at UFC 100 because of a shoulder injury.
Grant made his UFC debut with a split decision victory over PRIDE veteran Ryo Chonan on April 18 at UFC 97 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Fit Plus standout has won 14 of his 16 professional fights -- with a staggering 12 of those 14 via submission.
In addition to winning matches, he’s been winning over audiences in Canada for quite some time and holds convincing victories over UFC veterans like Forrest Petz.
While Kim is coming off a razor-thin split decision loss to Karo Parisyan at UFC 94 earlier this year, which was later overturned to a no contest after Parisyan tested positive for pain killers. And before that he went the distance in another close split decision, though in a winning effort against Matt Brown at UFC 88 last September.
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