March 17, 2011 – In news circulating as of last night, Dallas-area fighter Edwin “El Feroz” Figueroa (7-0) has gotten the UFC call-up, replacing the injured Nick Pace to step in against Michael McDonald (11-1) in a preliminary bantamweight matchup for next week’s UFC Fight Night 24 event.
A lifelong McKinney-area resident, the Saekson Janjira-trained Figueroa comes into this bout as one of the more highly-regarded 135’ers in the nation. He’s also one of the more exciting ones with six out of seven victories ending before the final bell. His last bouts in particular have been impressive as he goes into his UFC debut fresh off TKO victories over Johnny Bedford (a highly-touted fighter in his own right) at KOK 9 and Warren Stewart at SWC 11 just a few months prior to that.
Look for an exciting matchup from this pairing of debuting UFC fighters as Edwin will be taking on a dangerous opponent in the 20-year-old Michael McDonald, who has defeated the likes of former WEC 145 champion Cole Escovedo and Manny Tapia. The youngest fighter on the UFC roster, McDonald boasts a dangerous pedigree, finishing all 11 out of 11 wins by submission or KO. A kickboxing expert and BJJ Brown Belt, McDonald should be a good test for “El Feroz” as he steps into the big leagues.
Texas Representing: Figueroa joins fellow Lonestar State residents T.J. Waldburger and Leonard Garcia on the card. T.J. will be taking on Johny Hendricks on the undercard portion of the event while Garcia will be taking on the ever-popular “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung in a “Fight of the Night” repeat from their last encounter at WEC 48.
The UFC FN 24 event is set to air from Seattle next Saturday, March 26th, with the night’s main card set to broadcast LIVE via Spike TV. Edwin’s bout is not on the main draw but exciting finishes sometimes have a way of making their way to the TV screens so keep lookout regardless.
UFC Fight Night 24 – Televised Card
- Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Phil Davis
- Dan Hardy vs. Anthony Johnson
- DaMarques Johnson vs. Amir Sadollah
- Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung
UFC Fight Night 24 – Preliminary Card (un-aired)
- Alex Caceres vs. Mackens Semerzier
- Jon Madsen vs. Mike Russow
- John Hathaway vs. Kris McCray
- Edwin Figueroa vs. Michael McDonald
- Sean McCorkle vs. Christian Morecraft
- Mario Miranda vs. Aaron Simpson
- Johny Hendricks vs. T.J. Waldburger
- Nik Lentz vs. Waylon Lowe
