Edson Barboza vs. Danny Castillo booked for UFC on FOX 9 on Dec. 14 in Sacramento

UFC on FOX 9 could also be known as UFC: Team Alpha Male.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) continues to stack its return to California's state capital with hometown fan favorites. The latest addition is a lightweight bout between Edson Barboza vs. Danny Castillo and is set to go down on Dec. 14, 2013 at the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento.

Castillo, who trains nearby at Team Alpha Male, joins team founder Urijah Faber, who meets Michael McDonald, and Chad Mendes, who fights Nik Lentz, as the plethora of local gym fighters on the card.

UFC officials announced the fight on Wednesday.

"Last Call" has won back-to-back fights since suffering a knockout loss to Michael Johnson (who found out his next fight today, too) nearly a year ago. He went on to beat Paul Sass at UFC on FUEL TV 7 by way of unanimous decision and then in July, at UFC on FOX 8, he outpointed Tim Means for his fifth win in six fights.

He won't have it easy.

The Brazilian-born Barboza also has won two straight fights since an upset loss to Jamie Varner, who knocked him out in the first round at UFC 146 back in May 2012. Since that setback, the first of his MMA career, Barboza has stopped Lucas Martins at UFC on FX 7 in January, then finished Rafaello Oliveira with leg kicks at UFC 162 in July, which I saw in person and it was nasty.

UFC on FOX 9 will be headlined by a lightweight championship title fight, as newly-crowned 155-pound kingpin Anthony Pettis defends against former Strikeforce straphanger Josh Thomson.

For more on the upcoming UFC on FOX 9 event, be sure to hit up our comprehensive news archive by clicking here.

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