TOP featherweight prospect Mark Eddiva will take on Alex “The Spartan” White as part of the growing list of bouts scheduled to be part of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Fight Night: Edgar vs. Faber at the Mall of Asia Arena on May 16.
Eddiva, a member of Benguet’s famed Team Lakay mixed-martial arts (MMA) stable, was initially rumored to be part of the fight card as one of the two homegrown Filipinos part of the active UFC roster. The world’s largest MMA organization confirmed Eddiva’s participation in their latest announcement that pushes their already stacked card to eight matches. This is his third match under the UFC banner since signing with the promotion last year.
Also flying the country’s flag in the UFC’s first offering in the Philippines is Eddiva’s Lakay teammate Roldan Sangcha-an, who will take on Jon de los Reyes in a flyweight clash.
Currently sporting a 6-1 (won-lost) record with three knockouts (KOs) and two submissions, the 29-year-old Eddiva, a former Asian Games gold medalist in wushu’s sanshou, fell to his first defeat against Edimilson Souza in his last bout in the “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil” last May. He was scheduled to fight in UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. St. Preux last November 8, but throat and elbow injuries, plus a slow-recovering rib injury, forced him to pull out of the fight that would have pitted him against American Mike “El Cucuy” de la Torre.
Standing in the way will be White, holding a 10-2 (won-lost) card with four KOs and five submissions, who is coming off a pair of losses in his last two bouts against Clay Collard (unanimous decision) and Lucas Martins (third-round KO, punches).
Both fighters are looking for the victory as a means of propelling themselves forward in the UFC’s ever-growing featherweight division.