Two new bouts have been set for the upcoming Octagon debut in Perth, Australia, as Tai Tuivasa faces Cyril Asker and Teruto Ishihara meets Jose Alberto Quinonez.
UFC 221 takes place February 11 from the Perth Arena in Western Australia, marking the 12th time the UFC has set up shop in the country. Luke Rockhold challenges Robert Whittaker for the middleweight title in the main event.
Tuivasa (6-0), a native Australian, earned a first round knockout with a flying knee in November in his debut vs. Rashad Coulter. He is a former Australian Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder who has stopped all six of his opponents.
Asker (9-3) has gone 2-2 inside the Octagon and is coming off a November submission win vs. Yaozong Hu. He also bested Dmitry Smolkiakov via TKO in January with a loss to Walt Harris coming between the two wins.
Ishihara (10-4-2) topped Rolando Dy in September, snapping a two-fight losing skid. He was declared a co-winner of Road to the UFC: Japan with Mizuto Hirota after their draw in 2015.
Quinonez (6-2) is on a three-fight winning streak that he started in 2015 with a submission of Leonardo Morales. In 2014, Quinonez lost to Alejandro Perez in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America.
Below is the current fight card:
UFC Middleweight Championship
Robert Whittaker (c) vs. Luke Rockhold
Heavyweight: Mark Hunt vs. Curtis Blaydes
Flyweight: Ben Nguyen vs. Jussier Formiga
Light Heavyweight: Tyson Pedro vs. Saparbek Safarov
Heavyweight: Tai Tuivasa vs. Cyril Asker
Bantamweight: Teruto Ishihara vs. Jose Alberto Quinonez
Lightweight: Damien Brown vs. Dong Hyun Kim
