Darren Elkins steps in against Chad Mendes at UFC On FOX 7

News

After a quick win this past Saturday at UFC 158, Darren Elkins (16-2, 6-1 UFC) has agreed to step in and fight again next month at UFC On FOX 7. Elkins will replace the injured Clay Guida and take on former featherweight title challenger Chad Mendes (13-1, 4-1 UFC) at the event. MMAJunkie.com reported the news on Tuesday morning.

Elkins scored a quick first-round knockout win over Antonio Carvalho at Saturday’s UFC 158 event, his fifth straight win since dropping down to 145 pounds. Elkins said he was looking for a Top 10 opponent following the win, and he gets it in a big way in Mendes, who is ranked #1 at 145 pounds in the lastest UFC rankings. Elkins has also scored wins over Steven Siler, Diego Brandao, Tiequan Zhang and Michihiro Omigawa since moving to featherweight.

Mendes has been through a number of different opponents over the last several months. He was slated to fight Hacran Dias at UFC On FX 6 in December. Dias pulled out of the fight, but Mendes was still able to compete, scoring a knockout win over late replacement Yaotzin Meza. Mendes was then set to fight Manny Gamburyan at UFC 157 in February, but Gamburyan pulled due to injury as well. Mendes was then taken off that card and moved to fight Guida, who pulled out due to injury last week. Mendes, though, has finally found someone to step up to fight him.

Mendes vs. Elkins has yet to be formally announced by the UFC, but it is expected to be the featured preliminary bout on FX. UFC On FOX 7 takes place on April 20 from the HP Pavillion in San Jose, California. The main card airs on FOX, with prelims airing on FX and Facebook. UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson defends the title against final Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez in the main event.

The current UFC On FOX 7 card shapes up like this:

  • Benson Henderson(c) vs. Gilbert Melendez (UFC Lightweight Championship)
  • Frank Mir vs. Daniel Cormier
  • Nate Diaz vs. Josh Thomson
  • Dan Hardy vs. Matt Brown
  • Chad Mendes vs. Darren Elkins
  • Norman Parke vs. Jon Tuck
  • Francis Carmont vs. Lorenz Larkin
  • Myles Jury vs. Ramsey Nijem
  • Francisco Rivera vs. Hugo Viana
  • Tim Means vs. Jorge Masvidal
  • Anthony Njokuani vs. Roger Bowling
  • Clifford Starks vs. Yoel Romero
  • Joseph Benavidez vs. Darren Uyenoyama
Ryan Frederick has been a diehard mixed martial arts fan since he saw UFC 1 at the age of 7. Since then he has yet to miss a show. He also has loves for football, baseball and fine whiskey. He fell in love with covering MMA after having also covered baseball and football, both professional and college, while working towards a journalism degree at Texas Christian University. His work has been seen on FOXSports.com, InsideFights.com, WrestlingObserver.com, Bleacher Report and ToughTalkMMA.com.