Nick Catone vs. Chris Camozzi Booked for UFC on FX 4 in Atlantic City

Middleweights added to June 22 card

The UFC’s return to Atlantic City in June apparently has its first New Jersey fighter added to the card.

Nick Catone, who hails from the Garden State, will face Chris Camozzi in a middleweight bout at UFC on FX 4 this summer. The news was reported by MMA DieHards late Tuesday and was subsequently confirmed by Catone on his Twitter feed. The UFC has not yet announced the fight booking.

UFC on FX 4 reportedly will take place at the new oceanside Revel resort, which officially opens just a month before the UFC is scheduled to return to Atlantic City. The main event features a lightweight contenders bout between two-time title challenger Gray Maynard and Clay Guida.

Catone (9-2, 3-2 UFC) will return to the cage for the first time in 15 months when he faces Camozzi. A torn Achilles’ tendon has kept him out of action since he put together a modest two-fight winning streak after starting his UFC career 1-2. After a split decision win over Jesse Forbes in January 2010, multiple injuries kept him on the sidelines until March 2011. He returned in his home state and beat a UFC-debuting Constantinos Philippou by unanimous decision at UFC 128 in Newark.

Camozzi (16-5, 3-2 UFC) will try to build on his January submission win over Dustin Jacoby at UFC on Fox in Chicago. That fight got him back in the win column after a unanimous decision loss to Francis Carmont at UFC 137 in October. Despite starting his UFC career 2-1, Camozzi, who competed on Season 11 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” was released from the promotion after a loss to Kyle Noke at UFC 127. But after a win over Joey Villasenor in a Shark Fights bout, Camozzi was brought back last fall.

UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida will be the UFC’s first show in Atlantic City since June 2005, when Andrei Arlovski won the interim heavyweight title against Justin Eilers at UFC 53. That event took place at Boardwalk Hall and had an attendance of 12,000. Also on that card, Rich Franklin beat Evan Tanner to become the UFC’s middleweight champ.

The event will be the UFC’s seventh in Atlantic City, a city known for hosting major boxing events. The first three took place at the Trump Taj Mahal, followed by three at the Boardwalk Hall.

Though no other fights beyond the main event have been announced by the UFC for the card, the promotion has a large contingent of fighters from New Jersey and the surrounding tristate area. Just seven weeks prior, the UFC will hold another card in the Garden State with UFC on Fox 3: Diaz vs. Miller in East Rutherford on May 5. The promotion last visited New Jersey for UFC 128 last March.

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