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The UFC’s first event in South Dakota will feature a native of the “Mount Rushmore State,” even though he fights out of Australia.
Ben Nguyen (14-5 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who was born in Sioux Falls, S.D., will meet Louis Smolka (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) in a flyweight bout at UFC Fight Night 91. UFC officials announced the fight today following an initial report from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.
UFC Fight Night 91 takes place July 13 at Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls. The event airs on FOX Sports 1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.
Nguyen will return home after leaving Sioux Falls in 2012 to train in Thailand, and then Australia. The Vietnamese-American has won eight straight fights, including his first two in the UFC. After fighting at bantamweight throughout his career, he came to the UFC as a flyweight a little less than a year ago and stopped Alptekin Ozkilic with one second left in the first round for a knockout in Australia. At UFC 193 this past November, he submitted Ryan Benoit in the first round, also in his adopted home country. His fight with Smolka will be his first in the States in more than five years.
Smolka has won three straight fights and four of his first five in the UFC. His current run started with a bonus-winning knockout of Richie Vaculik in November 2014. This past year, he had a decision win over Neil Seery at UFC 189 and a submission of home-crowd favorite Paddy Holohan at UFC Fight Night 76 in Dublin in October. The lone loss of his career remains a split-call setback to Chris Cariaso at UFC Fight Night 40
With the addition, the latest UFC Fight Night 91 card now includes:
Tim Boetsch vs. Josh Samman
Scott Holtzman vs. Cody Pfister
Keita Nakamura vs. Kyle Noke
Ben Nguyen vs. Louis Smolka
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