The UFC was busy announcing fights today for the upcoming The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale card, including a title-fight headliner and the second women’s bout in UFC history. According to a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal that was later confirmed by the UFC, flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson will put his belt on the line for the second time in 2013 when he takes on John Moraga in the five-round main event of the TUF 17 Finale, which takes place April 13 in Las Vegas. Johnson has defeated John Dodson, Joseph Benavidez and Ian McCall in succession to claim his stake as the No. 1 flyweight fighter in the world, while Moraga beat Ulysses Gomez and Chris Cariaso in order to claim his title shot. This should be an excellent fight, and Johnson will surely open as the favorite. As well, it was announced that Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano will clash in the second-ever women’s fight in the UFC. Zingano is undefeated at 7-0 and is quickly making her way up the ranks, while Tate was the former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion and has long been considered one of the most talented female fighters on the planet. This should be another exciting battle between the ladies, and it’s likely that Tate will open as a small favorite to win. Then it’s a battle of heavyweights as Travis Browne looks to get back on the winning track against veteran Gabriel Gonzaga. This bout, which is expected to be aired on the main card, is definitely not going the entire 15 minutes. As far as a line goes, Browne may enter as a small favorite even despite his recent loss to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, but it’s entirely possible that with Gonzaga’s recent win streak the fight may open closer to a Pick ’em. And finally, two featherweight fights have been announced. The first is Bart Palaszewski vs. Cole Miller and the second is Justin Lawrence vs. Daniel Pineda. All four of these fighters are coming off of losses so they’ll all need to bring their A-games to Vegas this April in order to not only win, but to keep their jobs in the UFC. The TUF 17 Finale is looking great so far, and we’ll likely see even more bouts for it announced in the coming days and weeks. UFC 160 Set For May 25 The UFC has requested the date of May 25 to hold UFC 160 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The news was revealed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s Keith Kizer, who said that the UFC is looking to hold 12 fights on this card. Only one has been announced so far, a welterweight bout between Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and Amir Sadollah.
