Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight bruiser Ilir Latifi has been paired off against the resurgent Sean O'Connell for the upcoming UFC Fight Night 81: "Dillashaw vs. Cruz" mixed martial arts (MMA) event, which airs live on FOX Sports 1 on Sun., Jan. 17, 2016, from inside TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
UFC brought word of the pairing on Thursday.
Latifi (10-4, 1 NC) was able to bounce back from a technical knockout loss to Jan Blachowicz by obliterating Hans Stringer last July in Glasgow, Scotland. "The Sledgehammer" is now 3-2 in his Octagon career after a short-notice defeat to Gegard Mousasi in early 2013.
O'Connell (17-6) got off to a dreadful start by coughing up consecutive losses to Ryan Jimmo and Gian Villante. Since then, the "Real OC" has been able to win back-to-back fights -- both by way of technical knockout -- over Matt Van Buren and Anthony Perosh.
UFC Fight Night 81 will be headlined by the bantamweight championship showdown between reigning division kingpin, TJ Dillashaw, and the man who never lost the 135-pound title, Dominick Cruz. Elsewhere on the card, Eddie Alvarez and Anthony Pettis face off for a spot in the lightweight pecking order.
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