Quarterly Rankings
Longtime top-ten ranked Japanese featherweight Hatsu Hioki (24-4-2) will make his anticipated Octagon debut against George Roop (12-7-1) at October's UFC 137 event.
The bout was announced by the UFC on Saturday.
Hioki, who signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC last month, is 12-1-1 in his last 14 fights, which includes a current four-fight win streak. He most recently defeated Donald Sanchez at Shooto Tradition 2011 in April.
Hioki has competed the majority of his nearly nine-year career in his native Japan, fighting for notable promotions such as Pride and collecting titles in Sengoku and the aforementioned Shooto organization.
Hioki's career wins resume is a very impressive one and includes victories over Ronnie Mann, Marlon Sandro, Rumina Sato Masanori Kanehara, Jeff Curran and Mark Hominick (x2).
Roop is 1-1 in his second stint with the UFC, this time as a featherweight. He previously competed in the organization as a lightweight. In his Octagon return fight, he suffered a first round TKO loss to Mark Hominick at UFC Fight Night 23 in January, however, Roop followed that loss up by dispatching of Josh Grispi via third round knockout at last month's TUF 13 Finale.
Prior to returning to the UFC, Roop went 1-1-1 in the now defunct WEC promotion, which was notably highlighted by a spectacular second round head kick knockout win over the "Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung.
Combining both stints, The Ultimate Fighter season 8 alum sports a 2-3 overall UFC record, picking up his other Octagon win over Dave Kaplan, while suffering other UFC losses to Shane Nelson and George Sotiropoulos.
UFC 137 takes place on October 29 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event headlined by a much anticipated superfight between UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre and now former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz.
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