Urijah Faber vs. Masenori Kanehara added to UFC Fight Night 52 in Japan
A bantamweight matchup between Urijah Faber (31-7 MMA, 7-3 UFC) and promotional newcomer Masenori Kanehara (23-11-5 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has been added to September’s UFC Fight Night 52 event in Japan.
While UFC officials have yet to announce the contest, the matchup was first reported by fightsportasia.com and has since been confirmed by multiple outlets.
Featuring a heavyweight contest between Mark Hunt and Roy Nelson, UFC Fight Night 52 takes place Sept. 20 at Saitama Arena at Saitama, Japan. The event is expected to stream on UFC Fight Pass, but broadcast plans have yet to be officially revealed.
Faber, of course, is a former WEC featherweight champion and has long been one of the biggest superstars in the sport. Currently ranked No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports MMA bantamweight rankings, Faber is currently 5-1 in his past six fights with the lone loss in that span coming in a failed title bid against then-champ Renan Barao.
Meanwhile, Kanehara is a 31-year-old Japanese product who makes his UFC debut. Fighting professionally since 2003, Kanehara opened his career at a very pedestrian 3-3-4 mark but has gone on to build an impressive career mark while competing for Sengoku, Pancrase and DEEP. Seventeen of his 23 career wins have come by way of stoppage.
With the addition to the card, the latest UFC Fight Night 52 card includes:
Mark Hunt vs. Roy Nelson
Rin Nakai vs. Miesha Tate
Takanori Gomi vs. Myles Jury
Urijah Faber vs. Masenori Kanehara
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Kyle Noke
Hyun Gyu Lim vs. Takenori Sato
Kyoji Horiguchi vs. opponent TBA
Norifumi Yamamoto vs. opponent TBA
