Canadian featherweight T.J. Laramie to make his UFC debut in September

Canadian featherweight T.J. (The Truth) Laramie will make his UFC debut Sept. 19 in Las Vegas against Darrick Minner.

The 22-year-old from Windsor, Ont., is the only Canadian to earn a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series, now in its fourth season. He won his way into the promotion Aug. 11 when injured opponent Daniel (Agent Orange) Swain was unable to come out for the second round.

“(An) absolute savage … I love savages. I love guys that fight like this kid fights. Welcome to the UFC, kid,” White told Laramie after the bout.

Laramie (12-3-0) wept in the cage following the victory, which came on his late mother’s birthday.

Minner (24-11-0) lost his UFC debut on short notice as an injury replacement in February when he was submitted in the first round by Grant (KGD) Dawson. Minner was slated to fight Jordan Griffin in June but had to pull out after getting sick during his weight cut.

Veteran Canadian strawweight Randa (Quiet Storm) Markos is also slated to fight on the Sept. 19 card, taking on Mackenzie Dern.

Markos (10-8-0) is coming off a decision loss to Amanda Ribas in March. The 35-year-old from Windsor is 6-7-1 in the UFC while Dern (8-1-0) is 3-1-0.

The Sept. 19 card will be headlined by a welterweight bout between former champion Tyrone Woodley, currently ranked No. 5 among 170-pound contenders, and No. 2 Colby (Chaos) Covington.

Covington won the UFC interim welterweight title in June 2018 with a win over Rafael dos Anjos but was later stripped of the title. He lost by TKO to champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 245 last December.

In other Canadian UFC action, Vancouver bantamweight Cole (The Cole Train) Smith takes on Hunter Azure on a Sept. 5 card in Las Vegas. Smith (7-1-0) is coming off a loss to Miles (Chapo) Johns last September. He won his UFC debut via decision over fellow Canadian Mitch Gagnon in May 2019.

Azure (8-1-0) won his UFC debut by decision over Winnipeg’s Brad (Superman) Katona last September, before losing by KO to Brian (Boom) Kelleher in May.

The main event Sept. 5 pits Alistair Overeem, ranked sixth among heavyweight contenders, against No 9 August Sakai.

Canadian featherweight Kyle (The Monster) Nelson takes on Billy Quarantillo on a Sept. 12 card in Las Vegas.

Nelson (13-3-0) was slated to meet Sean (The Sniper) Woodson at a catchweight of 150 pounds in June in Las Vegas but had to drop out because of visa issues. The 29-year-old from Huntsville, Ont., dropped his first two UFC bouts but bounced back last September with an impressive KO win over Marco Polo Reyes.

Quarantillo (14-2-0) has won both of his UFC bouts to date.

The Sept. 12 event is headlined by hard-hitting Thiago (Marreta) Santos, ranked second among light-heavyweight contenders, and No. 4 Glover Teixeira.

All of the Las Vegas cards are at the UFC’s Apex production facility.

Calgary bantamweight (Mean) Hakeem Dawodu (11-1-1) will see action against Russian Zubaira (Warrior) Tukhugov (19-4-1) at UFC 253 on Sept. 26.

Israel (The Last Stylebender) Adesanya will defend his middleweight title against No. 2 Paulo Costa in the main event.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 26, 2020.

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press