{"id":802020,"date":"2026-07-15T14:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T14:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/802020\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T14:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T14:45:12","slug":"ufc-signs-two-unbeaten-finishing-machines-for-late-notice-fight-at-ufc-oklahoma-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/802020\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC Signs Two Unbeaten Finishing Machines for Late-Notice Fight at UFC Oklahoma City"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Saturday\u2019s UFC Fight night card in Oklahoma City has received a very late addition during fight week. <\/p>\n

Scheduled to take place at the Paycom Center, UFC Oklahoma City is headlined by a massive middleweight clash between former UFC titleholders Dricus du Plessis<\/a> and Kamaru Usman, who is making his second middleweight appearance after losing to Khamzat Chimaev in a short-notice bout <\/a>in 2023. <\/p>\n

The even marks the UFC\u2019s first visit to Oklahoma in nearly ten years<\/a>, as the world\u2019s leading MMA promotion last made the trip to Oklahoma City in 2017 for a UFC Fight Night that closed out with Kevin Lee\u2019s submission-win over Michael Chiesa<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Damien Anderson vs. Ezra Elliott Added to UFC Oklahoma City<\/p>\n

UFC Oklahoma City offered a slightly-light slate of 11 total fights at the start of fight week<\/a>, with typical UFC events usually capping out with 14 fights at most. <\/p>\n

\"Sean<\/p>\n

Sean Strickland (red glove) fights Dricus Du Plessis (blue gloves) during UFC 297 at ScotiaBank Arena. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

According to Marcel Dorff<\/a>, the UFC has bolstered the card by signing undefeated talents Damien Anderson and Ezra Elliott to make their respective UFC debuts in a featherweight contest at UFC Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n

Ezra Elliott Has Never Gone Past the First Round<\/p>\n

A product of the MMA Lab in Arizona, Elliott went 4-0 as an amateur fighter before making his professional debut in 2024. <\/p>\n

Elliott\u2019s first year as a pro saw him compete a total of three times but amass less than a round of cage time, as he sopped Anthony Curtiss with strikes in his debut before securing back-to-back wins via D\u2019arce choke. <\/p>\n

That first year set the tone for Elliott\u2019s career thus far, as he also submitted all three of his opponents in the first round in 2025 before he needed 3 minutes and 41 seconds to knock out Ashton Caniglia in his most recent outing in May, which stands as the longest fight of his pro career. <\/p>\n

Highly-Touted Damian Anderson Meets Elliott at UFC Oklahoma City<\/p>\n

Ranked as the #19 prospect worldwide by MMA Prospect Vault<\/a>, Anderson only competed once in MMA an amateur but also has extensive experience in competitive grappling.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemon Hands\u201d made his pro MMA debut the same year as his lone amateur bout when he entered the cage at Fury Challenger Series 9, where he stopped Ray Vaiza with strikes in just over two minutes. <\/p>\n

Anderson remained with Fury FC for his next three fights and showed off his grappling skills with three-straight submissions, and in December 2024 he also submitted Sandrey Silva at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 9.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old most recently fought in February at Cage Fury FC 150, where he submitted Hondo Gutierrez with a kneebar in less than two minutes.<\/p>\n

UFC Oklahoma City Fight Card<\/p>\n

Main Event: Dricus du Plessis vs. Kamaru Usman<\/p>\n

Co-Main Event: Jared Cannonier vs. Christian Leroy Duncan<\/p>\n

Chase Hooper vs. Mitch Ramirez<\/p>\n

Tabatha Ricci vs. Fatima Kline<\/p>\n

Tommy McMillen vs. Alberto Montes<\/p>\n

Jose Delgado vs. Austin Bashi<\/p>\n

Seok Hyeon Ko vs. Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani<\/p>\n

Felipe Franco vs. Levi Rodrigues Jr.<\/p>\n

Alden Coria vs. Stewart Nicoll<\/p>\n

Alvin Hines vs. RJ Harris<\/p>\n

Dione Barbosa vs. Anna Melisano<\/p>\n

Damien Anderson vs. Ezra Elliott<\/p>\n

\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This Saturday\u2019s UFC Fight night card in Oklahoma City has received a very late addition during fight week.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":802021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-802020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}