UFC Dublin adds Parke vs Kotani

Norman Parke meets Naoyuki Kotani at UFC Fight Night 46 in Dublin

by Chris Houten @mrhouts

Northern Ireland's Norman Parke (20-2-1 MMA, 3-0-1 UFC) will meet returning Japanese lightweight Naoyuki Kotani (33-10-7 MMA, 0-2 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 46 in Dublin.

UFC Fight Night 46 Dublin takes place July 19th at the The O2 Arena. Tickets for the event will go on sale to the general public at 10am on Friday 6th June and can be purchased from www.ticketmaster.ie and www.theo2.ie.

Undefeated in 10 bouts, Norman Parke returns to fight on more familiar shores hoping to bounce back from a disappointing draw to Leonardo Santos at UFC Fight Night 38  in Brazil; a bout that Parke was docked a point without warning from the referee for grabbing Santos' shorts.

A pro since 2006, Parke burst on to the international scene when he won The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes, a version of TUF which pit Australia vs The United Kingdom. Since beating fellow Brit Colin Fletcher in the finals of TUF: smashes, Parke put together impressive decision victories over Kazuki Tokudome and Jon Tuck before the draw to Leonardo Santos.

Currently riding a 4 year, 13 fight wins streak, Japanese lightweight Naoyuki Kotani fights in the UFC for the first time since 2007 where loses to Thiago Tavares and Dennis Siver saw him released from the promotion. A devastating submission artist with 25 of his 30 finishes coming by tap out, the 32 year old Japanese fighter has struggled throughout his career when facing western opposition with previous loses coming to Jorge Masvidal, Rich Clementi, Marcus Aurelio, Yves Edwards, and Roger Huerta.

With the addition of Parke vs Kotani UFC Fight Night 46 now includes:

Conor McGregor vs. Cole Miller
Zak Cummings vs. Gunnar Nelson
Ian McCall vs. Brad Pickett
Ilir Latifi vs. Tom Lawlor
Cody Donovan vs. Nikita Krylov
Phil Harris vs. Neil Seery
Trevor Smith vs. Tor Troeng
Naoyuki Kotani vs. Norman Parke

Stay tuned to KingdomMMA.co.uk for all the latest on UFC Fight Night 46