The Ultimate Fighting Championship continues to add notable bouts to its first card ever in Toronto, Canada, as expected fights between Jose Aldo and Mark Hominick and Randy Couture (pictured) versus Lyoto Machida have been confirmed for the card. A previously reported welterweight tilt between Rory MacDonald and Nate Diaz has also been made official.
UFC 129 will be take place April 30th at Toronto’s Roger Centre, and will feature welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre vs. challenger Jake Shields in the main event.
Aldo (18-1) will be looking to defend his UFC Featherweight Championship for the first time, since the now defunct WEC merged with the larger Zuffa organization. Aldo last competed at WEC 51 in September and KO’d Manny Gamburyan.
Hominick (20-8) earned a crack at Aldo at the UFC Fight for the Troops 2 card on January 22nd, by stopping George Roop in the first round.
Despite recent speculation that Couture’s acting pursuits may finally put an end to the legend’s storied MMA career, the 46 year-old, former champion will return for at least one more fight. Couture (19-10) hasn’t fought since last August when he submitted renowned boxer James Toney in short order.
Machida (16-2) is on the hunt for his first win since 2009, as the former light-heavyweight champ is coming off back-to-back losses against “Rampage” Jackson and “Shogun” Rua.
Diaz (13-6) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Dong Hyun Kim in January, after stopping Marcus Davis and Rory Markham in back-to-back fights.
MacDonald (10-1) last fought at UFC 115 in July, 2010, and was stopped by Carlos Condit. The defeat was the welterweight prospect’s first. To hear MacDonald’s thoughts on fighting Diaz head here.
UFC 129 will be available by pay-per-view.
