UFC and WEC lightweight veteran fighter Kamal "Prince of Persia" Shalorus (7-1-2) will return to the UFC on Friday, January 20th, 2012, as he takes on undefeated Russian fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov (16-0) in a lightweight battle at UFC Fight Night 26 – Miller vs. Guillard.
Shalorus has not fought since dropping his UFC debut to Jim Miller last March. The loss to Miller was the first loss of Shalorus’ professional MMA career, which includes 4 fights in the WEC, where he went 3-0-1. Coincidentally, Miller is set to headline this same event against Melvin Guillard.
Shalorus’ opponent Nurmagomedov will be looking to continue his undefeated run, which saw him run his record to 16-0 with 7 straight stoppage victories in 2011 via TKO, KO, or Submission. Fighting primarily in Russia for M-1 Global and ProFC, Nurmagomedov will now be facing a big step up in competition against Shalorus.
Shalorus joined OTM Radio (www.onthemat.com/radio) live last night and revealed that he has changed training camps with his recent move to California, where he now trains alongside the likes of Vladimir Matyushenko, Steve Magdaleno, and Antoni Hardonk. Shalorus, who was born in Iran and was later granted British citizenship, comes from a very decorated wrestling background. His amateur grappling career has included representing Great Britain in the Olympic wrestling trials, as well as defeating Norwegian PRIDE and DREAM super star Joachim Hansen at the European ADCC trials.
UFC Fight Night 26, also known as UFC on FX 1, will be the inaugural event to air on FX as part of a 7-year broadcasting deal between the UFC and Fox. The event is set to take place at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, which will mark the UFC’s second visit to the city.