UFC Fight Night 35: Rockhold vs. Philippou Preview
This Wednesday, January 15, 2014, UFC Fight Night 35 will air live from The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia. The event features a pivotal middleweight showdown between No. 7-ranked Luke Rockhold and No. 10-ranked Costa Philippou.
The bout holds a ton of weight for both fighters, as each comes in off a loss. Former Strikeforce 185-pound champ Rockhold made an unsuccessful Octagon debut earlier this year when he was on the wrong end of a Vitor Belfort highlight reel spinning wheel kick at UFC on FX 8. Philippou didn’t fare much better in his last outing, losing a unanimous decision to Francis Carmont at UFC 165.
The winner will move onto a big fight while the loser will face a long road back to true relevancy.
The rest of the main card, airing live on FOX Sports 1 at 7 p.m. EST, features a co-main event bout between middleweights Brad Tavares and Lorenz Larkin. Tavares has quietly won four decisions in a row while touted striker Larkin looks to make it two straight UFC wins after defeating Chris Camozzi at UFC Fight for the Troops 3 last November.
The UFC released a preview for the event, which will also showcase a heated matchup of Top-10 bantamweights T.J. Dillashaw and Mike Easton, and a potentially explosive bout between middleweights Yoel Romero and Derek Brunson. John Moraga vs. Dustin Ortiz and Cole Miller vs. Sam Sicilia rounds out the main card.
