The UFC's first trip to Mexico now has a full main card.
In a press conference held in Mexico City earlier today, four bouts were added to the November 15th PPV, which is headlined by the heavyweight title fight between champion Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum. The announced fights are as follows:
Ricardo Lamas vs. Dennis Bermudez
Jake Ellenberger vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Diego Sanchez vs. Norman Parke
Erik Perez vs. Marcus Brimage
Lamas (14-3) has won 5 of his last 6 fights, including a unanimous decision win over Hacran Dias. His only loss in the UFC was to featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Bermudez (14-3) has not lost a fight since his TUF 14 Finale defeat to Diego Brandao. The Long Island native recently battered and choked out the durable Clay Guida at UFC on Fox 12 in San Jose.
Gastelum (9-0) has been very impressive in the UFC, but has struggled to make the 170 lbs limit, having missed on his first attempt vs. Rick Story and then having to compete against Nico Musoke at catchweight. Nevertheless, he's yet to taste defeat, and this is his toughest opponent to date. Ellenberger (29-8) is on a two-fight losing streak, with a lackluster decision to Rory MacDonald and a 3rd round TKO to Robbie Lawler setting him back greatly in the pack of contenders. This fight could very well be his last gasp at remaining relevant in the upper tier of welterweight.
Sanchez (25-7) is coming off of an inexplicable split decision win over Ross Pearson in June, which gave him his first win at 155 lbs -- his debatable split decision win over Takanori Gomi was held at a catchweight -- since beating Clay Guida in 2009. Parke (20-2-1) is the TUF Smashes lightweight winner, and the Northern Ireland native has recorded a 4-0-1 record in the UFC. His last fight was an easy 2nd round TKO of Japan's Naoyuki Kotani in Dublin, Ireland.
Lastly, Mexico's Perez (14-6) lost by submission to Bryan Caraway in June, dropping him to 1-2 in his last 3. TUF 14 alum Brimage (6-3) has lost two straight, including his bantamweight debut against Russell Doane at UFC 175.
If you were expecting the PPV portion of UFC 180 to be largely focused on the main event and then filled with fighters from TUF Latin America (*raises hand*), you were wrong. There are plenty of solid match-ups here that make for a very good card on paper.