Mike Easton
Papazian in for Stone vs. Easton, two newcomers added
The UFC’s debut card on the FX cable channel has undergone a handful of changes due to injuries, but it finally looks complete.
UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller takes place Jan. 20 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., featuring a main event lightweight bout between recent top contenders Melvin Guillard and Jim Miller. On Tuesday, the UFC announced one last addition to the preliminary card, plus one final opponent switch for the FX broadcast.
Jared Papazian (14-6-1) will make his UFC debut against Mike Easton (11-1, 1-0 UFC) in a bantamweight fight expected to take place on the main card televised on FX. Papazian steps in for Ken Stone, who as previously reported was injured and pulled from the fight. Papazian, the King of the Cage bantamweight champion, started his career 4-4 but has since gone 10-2 with one no contest. Easton won his UFC debut in October with a second-round TKO of Byron Bloodworth in front of his home crowd in Washington, D.C.
And in addition to that bout, the UFC announced a new fight for the prelims with two featherweights making their promotional debuts. Daniel Pineda (15-7) will fight Pat Schilling (5-0) to open the preliminary card telecast on Fuel TV.
Pineda is an EliteXC and two-fight Bellator veteran, but all three of those fights were losses. He has, however, won five straight and seven of his last eight – and all 15 of his career victories have come by stoppage. His only decision came in loss at Bellator 6 to Roberto Vargas.
In two years as a pro, Schilling has gone unbeaten – though he has just one fight in the last year. All five of the Minnesota-based fighter’s victories have come in the first round, the last four by submission.
In addition to the main event lightweight bout between Guillard and Miller, who recently had long winning streaks snapped, UFC on FX 1 features a heavyweight bout between Pat Barry and Christian Morecraft, plus a welterweight fight featuring Josh Neer and Duane Ludwig on the main card. The UFC last visited Nashville for UFC Fight Night 18 in April 2009. That card set a then-record for attendance for a Fight Night show.
Here is how the card currently stands heading into next week’s return to Music City:
Main Card (FX)
Melvin Guillard vs. Jim Miller
Duane Ludwig vs. Josh Neer
Mike Easton vs. Jared Papazian
Pat Barry vs. Christian Morecraft
Preliminary Card (Fuel TV)
Jorge Rivera vs. Eric Schafer
Charlie Brenneman vs. Daniel Roberts
Kamal Shalorus vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Fabricio Camoes vs. Reza Madadi
Karlos Vemola vs. Ryan Jimmo
Joseph Sandoval vs. Nick Denis
Daniel Pineda vs. Pat Schilling
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