Chris Holdsworth vs. Kyung Ho Kang set for UFC 173 in May
The most recent men’s winner of “The Ultimate Fighter†has his first post-“TUF†assignment.
Chris Holdsworth (5-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) will take on Kyung Ho Kang (12-7 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in a bantamweight bout at UFC 173 this spring. UFC officials announced the new fight booking late Thursday.
UFC 173, the promotion’s annual Memorial Day weekend card, takes place May 24 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main event will be a middleweight title fight between champion Chris Weidman and top contender Vitor Belfort. The main card will air on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.
Holdsworth won the men’s bantamweight tourney on Season 18 of “The Ultimate Fighter†this past November. After winning by submission to get into the house, he was the second pick by coach Miesha Tate. He won his first fight in the house by guillotine choke, and in the semifinals, he tapped out Michael Wooten with a rear-naked choke to reach the final against Davey Grant.
At the TUF 18 Finale, Holdsworth continued his impressive early career run of stoppages when he submitted Grant in the second round with a rear-naked choke. All five of his official pro fights – plus the unofficial three on “TUF 18†– have come by submission for the product of Team Alpha Male.
Kang, from South Korea, picked up his first UFC win in January when he stopped Shunichi Shimizu with a third-round arm-triangle choke. That got him back in the win column after a decision loss to Chico Camus at UFC 164. In his UFC debut in March 2013, he dropped a split decision to Alex Caceres. But that result was flipped to a no-contest after Caceres tested positive for marijuana.
