A pivotal women’s strawweight matchup has been added to the fight card for the UFC’s return to Columbus, OH.
The Mar. 28 card at the Nationwide Arena has been bolstered by the addition of a women’s 115-pound fight between [autotag]Mizuki Inoue[/autotag] and [autotag]Tecia Torres[/autotag]. The bout was officially announced via the UFC’s official regional Twitter account in Japan.
Longtime strawweight contender Torres (10-5, 6-5 UFC) will be desperate to claim victory after seeing her winning form evaporate over the last two years. Since her unanimous decision victory over Michelle Waterson at UFC 218 in December 2017 “The Tiny Tornado” has gone 0-4, having lost a quartet of unanimous decisions to Jessica Andrade, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Zhang Weili and Marina Rodriguez.
The fact that three of those defeats came against world championship-caliber opposition may have given Torres a little latitude with the UFC brass following her loss to Rodriguez, but a fifth straight loss would seemingly be unthinkable for The Ultimate Fighter Season 20 veteran.
She will take on former Invicta strawweight title challenger Inoue (14-5, 1-0 UFC), who heads into the contest looking to claim back-to-back wins inside the octagon following her split-decision debut victory over Wu Yanan at UFC on ESPN+ 15 in Shenzhen in August.
The women’s strawweight clash joins a growing card of fights for the UFC’s return to Ohio, which will be headlined by a heavyweight clash between rival knockout artists Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
Confirmed bouts for UFC Columbus include:
- Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzino Rozenstruik
- Raphael Assuncao vs. Cody Garbrandt
- Yorgan De Castro vs. Greg Hardy
- Sam Alvey vs. Khalil Rountree
- Carlos Felipe vs. Jeff Hughes
- Davey Grant vs. Louis Smolka
- Mizuki Inoue vs. Tecia Torres