Pettis

By FCF Staff

Just one day removed from confirming a middleweight match-up between Yushin Okami and Tim Boetsch for UFC 144, the promotion has announced that a lightweight bout between Joe Lauzon and Athony Pettis will also go down on February 26^th.

The UFC 144 card will be hosted by the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Lauzon (21-6) is coming off an impressive, first round submission win over Melvin Guillard in October, after tapping out Curt Warburton in June. The former TUF competitor is 3-2 in his last five fights.

Pettis (14-2) worked his way to a split decision win over Jeremy Stephens at UFC 136 last month, to rebound from the unanimous decision loss he suffered at the hands of Clay Guida in June. Prior to the defeat, the former WEC champion had won four straight fights.

Earlier in the week, the UFC also confirmed that Yoshihiro Akiyama will make his welterweight debut against Jake Shields at the February 26^th event.

A lightweight title fight between Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson is also expected to take place at UFC 144.