MMA News Forums - Melvin Guillard vs. Jamie Varner added to TUF 16 Finale in December

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A lightweight bout between Melvin Guillard (30-11-2 MMA, 11-7 UFC) and former WEC champion Jamie Varner (20-7-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) is the latest addition to The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale.

UFC officials today announced verbal agreements are in place for the fight.

The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale takes place Dec. 15 at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The night's main card airs on FX following prelims on FUEL TV and Facebook. It's not clear where Guillard vs. Varner will be on the lineup.

Guillard most recently competed at UFC 150, where he suffered a head-kick knockout loss to Donald Cerrone in a "Fight of the Night" performance. A former contender on the brink of a title shot, Guillard failed to make weight prior to the loss, which contributed to a recent 1-3 skid. Prior to the losses, which also came to Jim Miller and Joe Lauzon, Guilllard had won five consecutive fights over the likes of Jeremy Stephens, Evan Dunham and Shane Roller.

Varner, meanwhile, also is coming off a losing "Fight of the Night" performance. At UFC on FOX 4, he suffered a third-round submission loss to Lauzon. (The bout recently earned a nomination for "Fight of the Year" in the 2012 World MMA Awards.) Prior to the defeat, Varner was on a three-fight win streak that included a big upset of Edson Barboza in his UFC return earlier this year.

The latest TUF 16 Finale card includes:
Shane Carwin vs. Roy Nelson
"TUF 16" tournament final
Pat Barry vs. Shane Del Rosario
Melvin Guillard vs. Jamie Varner
James Head vs. Mike Pyle
Jonathan Brookins vs. Dustin Poirier
Nick Catone vs. T.J. Waldburger
Rustam Khabilov vs. Vinc Pichel
Reuben Duran vs. Hugo Viana
Johnny Bedford vs. Marcos Vinicius
Tim Elliott vs. Jared Papazian
John Cofer vs. Mike Rio

Melvin Guillard vs. Jamie Varner added to TUF 16 Finale in December | MMAjunkie.com

Maybe my memory is off but I thought they had been letting the star power fall off a bit in the TUF finales. Glad to see this one has some names on it, it should help with the finale ratings and maybe even some of the later episodes.