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An intriguing featherweight contest is being reported for UFC on Fox 6, as Clay Guida will take on Hatsu Hioki. The Chicago Sun Times reported the fight as being official Wednesday night.

Guida (29-13) will be making his debut after dropping down from the lightweight ranks following a pair of setbacks. He was defeated by Gray Maynard and current UFC lightweight champion Ben Henderson after stringing together four consecutive victories.

Hioki (26-5-2) is coming off a surprising loss to Ricardo Lamas that halted his potential run to a title match with Jose Aldo.

Guida, who said he wrestled at 149 pounds in college, believes that “I present a tougher challenge for him than he does for me.”

The UFC on Fox 6 event is filling up with several exciting fights, as the main event features Demetrious Johnson defending his UFC flyweight title against John Dodson. Light heavyweights Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Glover Teixeira, along with lightweights Donald Cerrone and Anthony Pettis, are also set for the evening.

I hope you’ve all adequately prepared for an MMA marathon. Between Bellator 71, ONE FC, UFC 147, and UFC on FX 4, there are plenty of ways to waste your weekend while watching violent things happen, and I hope you’ll all join me in so excitingly wasting my time. Seeing as I have to write 14,074 of these small pre-article blurbs this week, I’ll just get down to business with the UFC on FX 4 preliminary card.

-Ken Stone vs Dustin Pague

In the first bout of the evening, Ken Stone, an ATT product, takes on Dustin Pague, who fought just two weeks prior. Stone has the tools to win this fight, and if he can keep this fight standing, he should have no problem doing so. I think he might have some problems doing that though. I expect Pague to take him down, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Stone on the wrong end of a submission.

-Ricardo Funch vs Dan Miller

Dan Miller’s welterweight debut os upon us. Miller almost certainly needs a win to remain gainfully employed, and luckily for him, he’s facing Ricardo Funch. Funch, who was highly touted prior to his octagon debut, has not fared well. Getting ripped to shreds by Johny Hendricks, Claude Patrick, and Mike Pyle have exposed some holes in Funch’s game, and Miller will absolutely exploit them. Miller takes a decision.

-Rick Story vs Brock Jardine

Both these dude are stiffling wrestlers with really, really heavy ground and pound. That’s all you really need to do. Story is better at doing what he does than Jardine is though. Expect a late stoppage, or a decision win for Story.

-Nick Catone vs Chris Camozzi

Despite fighting only once in the last 16 months, Nick Catone is not a firm believer in ring rust. To his credit, he took care of Constantinos Phillippou after 14 months away from the cage, so maybe he’s onto something. I like Camozzi, but Catone is just better. If ring rust is not a factor, Catone handily takes a decision.

-Matt Brown vs Luis Ramos

Matt Brown has really made a case for immortality, at least, in terms of his ability to stay employed. After a good couple of wins, capped off by derailing the Stephen Thompson hype train back at UFC 145, Brown returns to take on Luis Ramos. Ramos has a tough challenge, despite being a relatively impressive prospect, he hasn’t had luck in the UFC, as is usually the case when you face Erick Silva. Brown could very well drop a decision here, but, I expect he smashes Ramos.

-Steven Siler vs Joey Gambino

Steven Siler maybe had some career defining victories after wiping out the Miller brothers, and “Super” has managed to put together six wins in his last seven bouts. While he was originally scheduled to get smashed by Jimy Hettes, he’s taking on Joey Gambino now, who himself is undefeated. A top ranked featherweight prospect, Gambino should be able to take Siler down early and often. Gambino picks up his tenth win with a decision victory here.

-Ramsey Nijem vs CJ Keith

A fan favorite, Ramsey Nijem may have fallen short on TUF 13, but the determined fighter made short work of Danny Downes, and cemented his position on the roster. He takes on undefeated C.J. Keith, who brings three consecutive knockouts into this bout. Keith, while highly touted, doesn’t appear to have much to offer Nijem, and for that reason, Ramsey will submit him.

-Hatsu Hioki vs Ricardo Lamas

Hatsu Hioki knows he’s not quite ready to take on Jose Aldo, but after turning down a fight against the champ, he takes a massive step down in competiton, and takes on Ricardo Lamas. That’s not to say that Lamas is by any means a bad fighter, in fact, his recent performances have shown how good he really is, but Hioki is one of the best 145 pound fighters in the world, and he’ll find a way to win, whether it be by grinding decision, or submission. I’ll take the latter.

The preliminary card goes down tomorrow on Facebook, and FUEL TV sometime around 6pm ET. Check back later for the main card preview, and let me know what you think down below.

A shot at UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo will not be the next fight for Hatsu Hioki, who many consider the No. 2 featherweight in the world.

Instead, Hioki will face Ricardo Lamas at UFC on FX 4, which is scheduled for June 22 from Atlantic City. FOX Sports confirmed the bout with UFC officials on Wednesday.

Aldo was recently mentioned as a possibility for the main event of UFC 147, which is slated for Brazil. With Hioki taking this fight, it appears Erik Koch is the lone person in the division left to challenge Aldo.

“Many pegged Hioki as the next possible challenger for Jose Aldo’s title, but he wants one more test before going for the belt,” UFC president Dana White said. “In his way is Lamas, who has proven to be a tough competitor for anyone to deal with, especially since moving down to featherweight and finishing both opponents at 145 pounds. Both guys have verbally agreed to the match.”

Hioki will be facing plenty of pressure to remain on track to battle Aldo, as Lamas has nothing to lose against the Japanese superstar.

A few observations from UFC 144: “Edgar vs. Henderson”:

-The sad thing about Zhang Tiequan losing is that his defeat pushes the date of the UFC event in mainland China back by about three years.

-Really, it’s hard to believe Steve Cantwell was ever the champ of any organization.

-The competition in high-level MMA has passed “Kid” Yamamoto by. All that’s left of the man that once was is a bunch of violent clips on a highlight reel and a bunch of depressing losses.

-If not for an aged opponent many years past his prime, we’d almost be saying the same thing about Takanori Gomi right now.

-Congrats to Anthony Pettis, who, with one smooth knockout, has now place himself back in the mix of lightweight contenders.

-Yes, Hatsu Hioki looked great and showed a lot of promise in terms of his standing in the division, but let’s be clear about something: it was only Bart Palaszewski he defeated. Beating Palaszewski does not mean you’re ready for Jose Aldo.

-Tim Boetsch getting dominated and coming back to utterly crush his foe is the reason I watch mixed martial arts. Also, it’s the reason why I let myself get bitten by radioactive spiders, spend hours in the lab trying to create a Super-Soldier Serum, and blast myself with gamma rays.

-Upon re-watching it, I can certainly see how the judges gave the bout to Jake Shields over Yoshihiro Akiyama. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that Shields isn’t capable of being exciting while Akiyama most definitely is.

-I can’t believe that in the year 2012, Mark Hunt can now be considered a viable force in the heavyweight division.

-Ryan Bader didn’t so much look good as Quinton Jackson looked awful. Great slam, though.

-In my heart I wanted Frankie Edgar to win, but I can understand why the judges gave Ben Henderson the nod. Edgar played his Speedy Gonzalez game and scored liberally, yet in no way, shape or form did he visit upon his opponent the same destruction Henderson visited upon him. However, give the man his damn rematch if he wants it! Lord knows he’s earned it.

MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani caught up with Dana White, Ryan Bader, Anthony Pettis, Jake Shields, Tim Boetsch, Hatsu Hioki and Vaughn Lee following UFC 144 to get their thoughts on the fights. Also, post-fight interviews with Ben Henderson and Ryan Bader via UFC.com.

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UFC 144 takes place later tonight at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event airs live on pay-per-view at 10pm ET/7pm PT. The pay-per-view broadcast will be preceded by prelim specials on Facebook at 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT and FX at 8pm ET/5pm PT.

In the main event, Frankie Edgar puts his UFC lightweight title on the line against Ben Henderson.

In the co-main event, Rampage Jackson returns to Japan to take on Ryan Bader.

Mark Hunt meets Cheick Kongo in a heavyweight bout.

Jake Shields looks to end a two-fight losing streak against Yoshihiro Akiyama.

Yushin Okami faces Tim Boetsch in a middleweight match-up.

Hatsu Hioki takes on Bart Palaszewski in a featherweight bout.

Joe Lauzon and Anthony Pettis meet in a lightweight match-up.

Results, recap and bonuses after the jump.

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Frankie Edgar won the UFC lightweight championship by defeating the incumbent BJ Penn in April of 2010. Since then, Edgar has defended his belt three times. Now, in an ideal world, that would’ve meant three new opponents, each providing disparate pugilistic permutations that would entertain solely on the basis of us getting to see “The Answer” facing someone different. But the real world has proven less than ideal. In his first bout after snatching Penn’s belt, Edgar had to fight… Penn. After that, he took on top contender Gray Maynard. Again. And again. Once Edgar became the UFC champ and had to fight to retain his crown, it was against people he’d already fought before. That fact alone makes UFC 144’s main event – a pairing that pits Edgar against former WEC champ Benson Henderson – pretty damn special if you ask me. For the first time in years, we are finally getting see Edgar scrap with someone without the last name of Penn or Maynard! Never mind that UFC 144 is the promotion’s first return to Japan since UFC 29. Edgar gets to defend his belt against someone new! Hoo-frickin’-ray! Anyway, here’s a preview of the main card.

-Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson – Edgar has been in the cage with Maynard for so many rounds they would be considered married under common law in some cultures. I guess that makes what’s about to happen between the champ and challenger – and I’m talking about the impending knock down-drag out violence they’re sure to provide – the most torrid of affairs. What’s in store? We all know these gentlemen can go hard for five whole rounds, that they don’t go down easily and that they can duke it out on the feet or settle matters on the ground. What we don’t know, however, is if “Bendo” can deal with Edgar’s unwavering pace and ability to turn a transition into “Pow! I just TKO’d your ass!” I envision Henderson putting up a good fight, but eventually Edgar wears the poor guy down into a nub, and that’s all she wrote.

-Quinton Jackson vs. Ryan Bader – “Rampage” is still one of the best in the world at light-heavyweight, regardless of how the superhuman Jon Jones handled him. Bader’s got great wrestling and can hit hard, but the TUF winner has flaws (as evidenced by how the very human Tito Ortiz handled him). Therefore, unless Jackson’s vast mileage has caught up with him between now and the last time we saw him (and again, don’t hold his performance against Jones against him; mortals fall to Jones, that’s just how it is), he should have little problem stuffing every one of Bader’s attempts to manhandle him, and out-boxing the heavy-handed TUFer. Rampage via decision.

-Cheick Kongo vs. Mark Hunt – Kongo can be exciting when he’s forced to be. Or, he can hold dudes against the fence and knee them in the nuts relentlessly, which is not that exciting. Hunt was a striking stud back in the day, and made more than a few PRIDE and K-1 events interesting. Unfortunately, time has seen his ability and raw talent decline something fierce, so what we have competing in the Octagon now is someone who can pick off the scrubs, but who’ll have trouble with the tougher guys. And Kongo is one of the tougher guys in the UFC’s heavyweight division. I want to believe that Hunt will come out winging bolos and force Kongo to fight. I don’t see that happening, though. Kongo is going to mush Hunt against the fence, hold him there, and knee him where the sun doesn’t shine. Kongo via painful decision.

-Jake Shields vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama – Shields was the big man on campus when the school was Strikeforce, but since graduating to the University of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, his grades have plummeted. But that’s okay, because UFC 144 Akiyama has made a name for himself by fighting hard and losing even harder (other than a two-minute drubbing at the hands of Vitor Belfort, Akiyama left it all in the cage against Alan Belcher, Michael Bisping and Chris Leben, and did not look impressive at any time). Anyway, Shields’ wrestling and jiu-jitsu should prove to be the deciding factor here, with Japanese judoka getting put on his back, and regaining his feet only after the referee pulls Shields off of him.

-Tim Boetsch vs. Yushin Okami – Boetsch, who made tossing guys on the head cool again, has been kicking ass since dropping to middleweight. Meanwhile, in his last UFC outing, Okami looked absolutely horrific against champ Anderson Silva. Like, “Why did this guy even take up fighting?” horrific. Of course, in Okami, Boetsch is facing someone far tougher and accomplished than anyone else he’s ever faced, but still, watching someone get tossed on their head is fun. If Okami comes in as gun shy and craptastic as he did against Silva, he’s going to be taking a short flight to Sideofthecage Land. I’m picking the Japanese fighter to grind out the decision, but damn am I hoping we get to see Boetsch throw someone.

-Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski – Palaszewki was on the fast train to Suckville after a mottled stint in the WEC, but in his Octagon debut he wrecked Tyson Griffin as if Griffin was a chump. So here we are, with Palaszewski taking on Shooto and Sengoku champ Hioki in what should be a squash match for the Japanese fighter. Why? Because with the way Griffin’s been stinking up the joint as of late, defeating him doesn’t truly elevate Palaszewski to greatness, and Hioki has more skill in his stool than the American has in his whole body. Hioki via decision.

-Joe Lauzon vs. Anthony Pettis – Whenever you think Lauzon is going to lose, he spoils it by smashing his way to victory. Pettis, who won the WEC belt right when it was about to no longer mean anything, is fantastic on the feet and capable of some wondrous moves, and in theory should be able to TKO his way to victory, but… it’s Joe Lauzon we’re talking about here. Lauzon can explode and hit hard, and he can molest opponents on the ground. Is he able to out-strike Pettis in a protracted standup war? No, but he can surprise Pettis with a dose of knuckles to the grill and follow it up smoothly with some submission love. And that makes him dangerous as hell. I’m predicting Pettis to get the TKO, but damn could Lauzon pull another rabbit out of his hat. That’d be cool, too.

UFC 144 is official.

UFC 144 “Edgar vs. Henderson” is scheduled to take place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on Sunday, Feb. 26, and will air live on pay-per-view on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 10pm ET/7pm PT in North America. The card will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between champion Frankie Edgar and challenger Ben Henderson.

“Japan is the spiritual home of martial arts – the world has learned from the Japanese many aspects of how to compete in hand-to-hand combat with respect and honor,” said Fertitta.  “But Japan also has a proud history of modern mixed martial arts and I am excited to bring the Ultimate Fighting Championship back here, and to begin the build-up today to one of the most highly anticipated events of the year — not just for Japanese UFC fans, but for sports fans all over the world.”

“To mark this historic occasion of UFC’s return to Japan and Zuffa’s first event in Asia, we are bringing a truly stacked card, topped with a World Championship title bout,” noted UFC Asia Managing Director Mark Fischer.  “Frankie Edgar is one of the top pound-for-pound and toughest guys in the sport, and Benson Henderson is a former WEC champion who earned his title shot with three consecutive wins including most recently over Clay Guida in one of the best fights of 2011”

The rest of the fight card was also made official. The full card includes Rampage Jackson vs Ryan Bader, Mark Hunt vs Cheick Kongo, Yoshihiro Akiyama vs Jake Shields, Anthony Pettis vs Joe Lauzon, Yushin Okami vs Tim Boetsch, Takanori Gomi vs George Sotiropoulos, Hatsu Hioki vs Bart Palaszewski, Kid Yamamoto vs Vaughan Lee, Riki Fukuda vs Steve Cantwell, Takeya Mizugaki vs Chris Cariaso and Leonard Garcia vs Tiequan Zhang.

Ticket info below.

• Japan Presale: Monday, November 28
• Public On-Sale Date: Saturday, December 10

Tickets will be priced at 100,000, 34000, 19000 9800, and 5800 Japanese Yen (JPY). They can be purchased at Kyodo Promotion, E-Plus and Lawson Tickets.

The latest UFC 144 fight card and event info can be found in our fight cards section.

A few observations from UFC 137: “Penn vs. Diaz”:

-Bart Palaszewski’s destruction of Tyson Griffin wasn’t just a win for himself, it was a win for the Illinois Woodchucks. Because, you know, the IFL. Heh.

-Don Cerrone dominated Dennis Siver so badly, Siver must now act as Cerrone’s manservant, and do things like fetch him his pipe and slippers after dinner.

-Remember when Brandon Vera was a heavyweight knockout machine and complete badass? Yeah, me neither.

-In the grand tradition of his countrymen, Shooto and Sengoku champ Hatsu Hioki came to the UFC, went to war, and failed to impress. But hey, he didn’t lose. That’s something, right?

-Color me surprised, but Jeff Curran actually did pretty well. His jiu-jitsu was crafty as hell, especially from the bottom, and when he stood and threw leather, he did it with confidence.

-Please, Mirko CroCop. Be retired. You’ve had a great career, and nowadays it just hurts to see you fight.

-It was gratifying to see Cheick Kongo blast Matt Mitrione. Too bad it was for only one round, and the two prior rounds were sucky.

-*Said in my best Morpheus voice* “He’s stood in front of everyone from KJ Noons to Paul Daley to BJ Penn, and out-struck them all. Now do you believe he’s the One, Trinity?” Yeah, Nick Diaz is the One.

MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani caught up with Cesar Gracie, Georges St. Pierre (before the fight), Roy Nelson, Donald Cerrone, Tyson Griffin, Hatsu Hioki, Bart Palaszewski and Ramsey Nijem following UFC 137 to get their thoughts on the fights. MMA Heat’s Karyn Bryant spoke with Cheick Kongo.

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