October’s UFC Fight Night 97 event in the Philippines has two new additions.
Officials recently announced the bouts: featherweights Cole Miller (21-10 MMA, 10-8 UFC) vs. Mizuto Hirota (17-7-2 MMA, 0-1-2 UFC) and strawweights Seo Hee Ham (16-7 MMA, 1-2 UFC) vs. Danielle Taylor (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC).
UFC Fight Night 97 takes place Oct. 15 at SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Manila, Philippines. The entire event streams on UFC Fight Pass.
Miller is winless in his past three fights and looks for his first victory since submitting Sam Sicilia in January 2014. The 32-year-old, who’s picked up four “Submission of the Night” bonuses in his nine-year UFC run, has decision losses to Max Holloway and Alex Caceres, as well as a no-contest (accidental eye-poke) with Jim Alers, in his most recent bouts.
He now meets Hirota, a 35-year-old Japanese fighter who gets a fourth opportunity to post his first UFC win. He went 0-2 in his first UFC stint, won three bouts with DEEP, and then returned to the organization in September and fought Teruto Ishihara to a split draw in the tournament final of the “Road to UFC: Japan” reality show at UFC Fight Night 75.
Meanwhile, Ham, a 29-year-old Korean fighter, posted a six-fight winning streak to earn a UFC contract in 2014. The former Jewels champion moved up a weight class and suffered a decision loss to Joanne Calderwood in her UFC debut, rebounded for a decision win over Cortney Casey, and then suffered a decision loss to Bec Rawlings in her most recent appearance.
She meets Taylor, a recent UFC debutant who, despite being a sizable underdog, put up a valiant effort against Maryna Moroz at UFC Fight Night 92. She settled for a split-decision defeat, which snapped the 26-year-old KOTC vet’s two-fight winning streak.
The latest UFC Fight Night 97 card now includes:
- Ricardo Lamas vs. B.J. Penn
- Derrick Lewis vs. Marcin Tybura
- Ali Bagautinov vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
- Mizuto Hirota vs. Cole Miller
- Seo Hee Ham vs. Danielle Taylor
For more on UFC Fight Night 97, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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