· “UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch” Complete With 11 bouts, Hunt vs. Tuchscherer Added

· Article author: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Posted on 01/03 at 02:51 PM

Apparently Pride veteran Mark Hunt (5-7, 0-1 UFC) will not be one-and-done with the UFC. The New Zealander will take on Chris Tuchscherer (21-3, 1-2 UFC) in a preliminary bout at UFC 127, scheduled for February 27 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.

Hunt debuted for the organization at UFC 119, losing to Sean McCorkle via submission in the first round. Despite a fairly successful career in the Pride Fighting Championships that saw him earn victories over Wanderlei Silva and Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Hunt has not won a MMA fight since 2006 where he lost six times in that span.

Despite winning 20 of his first 21 fights, Minnesota Martial Arts product Chris Tuchscherer has had a rough journey in the UFC thus far. He debuted with a nasty knockout loss to former title challenger Gabriel Gonzaga before earning a majority decision over Tim Hague. That fight was followed by a 67-second TKO loss to Brendan Schaub at UFC 116 in July, which was Tuchscherer's last fight.

The heavyweight bout finalizes the event, which features 11 fights and will be shown on PPV in the U.S.

UFC 127 will be headlined by a welterweight bout between former champion B.J. Penn (16-7-1, 12-6-1 UFC) and perennial contender Jon Fitch (23-3, 13-1 UFC). Penn returned to the welterweight division in November and promptly knocked out Matt Hughes in the third meeting between the two. Fitch won 16 straight fights before losing to Georges St-Pierre in a welterweight championship match in 2008 but has rebounded to go on another five-fight win streak since.

A middleweight showdown between Michael Bisping (20-3, 10-3 UFC) and Jorge Rivera (18-7, 7-5 UFC) co-headlines the event.

14 of the 22 fighters on the card will be non-Americans, including five fighters who hail from Australia or New Zealand: George Sotiropoulos, Kyle Noke, Mark Hunt, James Te Huna, and Anthony Perosh.