Nate Marquardt (right) (photo: Esther Lin / Showtime)

By FCF Staff

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has announced that it is headed to New Zealand for the first time in the promotion’s history, and that Auckland’s Vector Arena will host a June 28th card.

The event will be headlined by a middleweight bout between Nate Marquardt and fellow vet James Te Huna.

Marquardt (33-13-2) will return to the 185 pound division having loss three straight fights, two of which included knockouts at the hands of Jake Ellenberger and Hector Lombard.

The former contender moved to welterweight after losing by unanimous decision to Yushin Okami in 2010, and has gone 2-3 since.

Te Huna (16-7), meanwhile, is making the drop from light-heavyweight after being submitted by Glover Teixeira and KO’d by “Shogun” Rua. The New Zealand born fighter had won four in a row prior to the defeats.

No other bouts have been confirmed yet for the upcoming event, however, the UFC noted in the announcement that Mark Hunt, Dylan Andrews and Robert Whittaker are all from New Zealand.