Hatsu Hioki to Make UFC Debut Against George Roop at UFC 137

[WrestlingSmarks News]

One of the best featherweights in the world officially signed with the UFC a few weeks ago, and now he has his first fight. Former Sengoku and Shooto champion Hatsu Hioki will step into the octagon for the first time on October 29th against George Roop at UFC 137. The UFC announced the fight today through their twitter feed:

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Hatsu Hioki will make his UFC debut Oct 29 against Mr. Spoiler himself, @GeorgeRoop at UFC 137less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet Reply UFC
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UFC.com confirmed shortly thereafter and said the fighters had verbally agreed to the bout. Hioki has won four in a row and is 11-1-1 in his last 13, with his only loss coming in a very controversial split decision to Michihiro Omigawa in 2009. He is currently ranked number 2 in the world in the USA Today/BE Consensus rankings, and holds wins over Marlon Sandro, "Lion" Takeshi Inoue, Ronnie Mann, Jeff Curran, and two wins over recent UFC featherweight title challenger Mark Hominick. Roop is coming off a dominating win over Josh Grispi at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale last month.