According to a report from Bloody Elbow, the UFC has booked a middleweight contest between UFC veteran Mark Muñoz and the young prospect Luke Barnatt for the upcoming UFC Fight Night 66 in May. The UFC would later confirm this news shortly after it was initially reported.

The addition of Muñoz (13-6) should come as no surprise to anyone as he has long been the face of Filipino market the UFC has long sought to break into.

A two-time NCAA Divison I All-American wrestler out of Oklahoma State University, Muñoz has fallen on hard times as of late as he’s only picked up one win in his last four bouts. In his most recent outing, ‘The Filipino Wrecking Machine’ suffered a first round submission loss to Roan Carneiro just two weeks ago at UFC 184.

For fans, this marked the third straight time they have seen Muñoz stopped within the opening frame with the two previous being a submission loss to Gegard Mousasi and a violent knockout at the hand of Lyoto Machida. To date, his last victory is a uanimous decision over Tim Boetsch back in 2013. He will enter this bout with seven career stoppage wins, including six by way of knockout, and a UFC record of  8-5.

His opponent Barnatt (8-2), a veteran of the 17th season of The Ultimate Fighter, is similarly suffering from the worst stretch of his young career. In his most recent bout, ‘Bigslow’ was seen on the wrong end of  a controversial  spilt decision to Roger Navarez at UFC Fight Night 57 in December. This marked the second straight split decision loss for the English native with his previous one being to Sean Strickland last May. This setback also marked the first of his professional career.

UFC Fight Night 66 is currently scheduled to take place on May 16 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Philippines. A featherweight superfight between former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and former WEC champion Urijah Faber will serve as the main event.

*It was later revealed by Muñoz that this bout will mark the final fight of his career*

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José began his career as a mixed martial arts journalist while still enrolled at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University. Since graduating in May 2013, he has attended dozens of high profile UFC fight cards as a credentialed member of the media, providing live cage side coverage through his articles and videos. His work has appeared on UFC.com, ArizonaSports.com and AZCentral. He is also currently one of the main contributors on Power MMA Show at Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, one of the first all MMA radio shows on a major radio station.