Spike TV announces four-fight main card for "UFC Fight Night 24: Ortiz vs. Nogueira"

Spike TV announces four-fight main card for "UFC Fight Night 24: Ortiz vs. Nogueira"

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Jan 26, 2011 at 3:10 pm ET
For the first time in more than four years, former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz will fight on Spike TV.

Now, his supporting cast is official, too.

In addition to the previously announced Ortiz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira main event for March's "UFC Fight Night 24: Ortiz vs. Nogueira" event, Spike TV officials today announced the evening's main card will also feature Dan Hardy vs. Anthony Johnson, Duane "Bang" Ludwig vs. Amir Sadollah and Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan.

"UFC Fight Night 24: Ortiz vs. Nogueira" takes place March 29 at Seattle's KeyArena and airs on Spike TV.

All four main-card fights had been previously announced by UFC brass, but the evening's bout order had yet to be officially confirmed.

"This is a must-win fight for Tito Ortiz," UFC president Dana White stated when the UFC Fight Night 24 headliner was first announced. "Everyone knows that Tito and I have had a rocky relationship, but he's been with us since we started this company, and we're on good terms now. This is the biggest fight of his career. 'Lil Nog' is ranked in the top 10 in the world, and a win puts Tito back in the mix."

Following a recent UFC 121 decision loss to Matt Hamill, Ortiz (15-8-1 MMA, 14-8-1 UFC) faced an uncertain future in the UFC. The former champ and "The Ultimate Fighter 3" coach is now winless (0-4-1) in his past five fights, and he hasn't posted a win in more than four years (Ken Shamrock in October 2006). However, the fights have come against some of the division's top fighters, including Chuck Liddell, Rashad Evans (draw), Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin and Hamill.

Nogueira (19-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC), the twin brother of former UFC champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, recently suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Ryan Bader in a key UFC 119 bout. Prior to the defeat, the PRIDE vet owned a seven-fight win streak, which included UFC wins over Luiz Cane (which earned a "Knockout of the Night" bonus) and Jason Brilz (which scored a "Fight of the Night" check).

Hardy (23-8 MMA, 4-2 UFC) joined the UFC in 2008 after success on the British fight circuit. He opened his UFC career with four consecutive wins, including victories over Marcus Davis and Mike Swick, to earn a title shot with champion Georges St-Pierre. Hardy suffered a lopsided unanimous-decision loss in the March title fight, and he then returned in October and suffered a first-round knockout to Carlos Condit.

He'll look to end the skid against Johnson (8-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC), who fights for the first time since November 2009 after suffering a knee injury that promoted a lengthy recovery time. Recently, a three-fight win streak that included knockout wins over Kevin Burns, Luigi Fioravanti and Yoshiyuki Yoshida came to an end with a submission loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 106.

Ludwig (20-11 MMA, 3-2 UFC) recently saved his UFC career with a split-decision win over Nick Osipczak at UFC 122. Prior to the fight, which marked the former lightweight's return to 170 pounds, Ludwig dropped three of four fights, which included UFC losses to Jim Miller (submission) and Darren Elkins (TKO due to an ankle injury).

The 10-year vet now meets Sadollah (4-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC), who scored a unanimous-decision win over Peter Sobotta at UFC 122. The victory allowed him to rebound from a decision loss to Dong Hyun Kim in May. Sadollah, who previously competed at middleweight, owns previous UFC wins over C.B. Dollaway, Phil Baroni and Brad Blackburn. The other loss came to Johnny Hendricks during his second pro bout in 2009.

UFC Fight Night 24's broadcast-opening fight features a rematch in the featherweight division, as Garcia (15-6-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) and Phan (16-8 MMA, 0-1 UFC) meet for a second time.