On Friday morning, UFC officials announced fight between hard hitting light heavyweights Ilir Latifi and Gian Villante had officially been added to UFC 196 (formerly UFC 197) in Las Vegas.

Villante (14-6) is coming of a violent first round knockout over the recently retired Anthony Perosh at UFC 193 in November. This got the former Hofstra University lineback back into the win column after he had his lights turned out in second round of his matchup against Tom Lawler at UFC on FOX 16 in July. He will enter the bout with a UFC record of 4-3.

Latifi (11-4) is currently riding the most impressive win streak of his career. In his most recent contest Latifi walked away with a 28-second knockout over Sean O’Connell at UFC Fight Night 81 earlier this month in Boston. Prior to this performance, fans saw Swedish fighter finished Hans Stringer just 56-seconds into their contest in July. To date, all four of Latifi’s UFC wins have ended in the first round, with three coming by way of (T)KO.

UFC 196 is currently scheduled to take place March 7 in Las Vegas. A lightweight title fight between reigning champion Rafael dos Anjos vs. featherweight champion Conor McGregor will serve as the main event. A women’s bantamweight title fight between Holly Holm and Miesha Tate will also take place on the carx

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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.