TUF 17 Finale Adds Maximo Blanco vs. Sam Sicilia

Just a few days removed from announcing that Demetrious Johnson would make the next defense of his UFC flyweight title in the headlining bout of the TUF 17 Finale on April 13, the fight card continues to grow.

Maximo Blanco and Sam Sicilia have agreed to a featherweight bout, according to MMAWeekly.com sources close to the fight.

Both men are looking at the fight to get back on track after suffering losses in their most recent bouts.

Blanco (8-4-1) has yet to score a victory under the Zuffa, LLC umbrella after fighting the majority of his career in Japan.

Pat Healy submitted Blanco when they were fighting for Strikeforce. Blanco then went on to lose split decision to Marcus Brimage in his UFC debut.

Sicilia made his way to the Octagon via TUF Live, scoring a knockout victory over Cristiano Marcello in the season’s finale. He couldn’t match the effort, losing by TKO to TUF Brazil standout Rony Jason at UFC 153 in October.

The TUF 17 Finale was originally slated for The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, but that plan was scrapped when 80s hard rock band Def Leppard extended its stay at The Joint to include April 13.

UFC president Dana White said recently that the TUF 17 Finale would remain in Las Vegas, but they hadn’t yet settled on a new location, although he indicated that the Mandalay Bay Event Center was under consideration.

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