Edmonton’s Clarke added to UFC 215 fight card

The UFC’s debut in Edmonton just got a little local flavour … and a former lightweight champion.

With tickets set to go on sale for the Sept. 9 UFC 215 card this week, the promotion revealed two new matchups to Postmedia on Wednesday.

Most intriguing is a welterweight bout between Neil Magny and former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. It’s a fight that could have major implications for the 170-pound division.

The other matchup: Edmonton’s Mitch Clarke will return to the octagon to fight American Alex White.

After losing the UFC’s 155-pound title to Eddie Alvarez during International Fight Week last year, and then dropping a close-fought followup to Tony Ferguson, dos Anjos moved up to welterweight and looked impressive in his debut, outlasting Tarec Saffiedine and earning a unanimous decision victory in June.

For his part, Magny’s name was very much in discussion for a title shot after he rattled off three straight wins in the leadup to a loss to Lorenz Larkin last summer. He bounced back in impressive fashion by beating Johny Hendricks at UFC 207 last December.

Magny is currently ranked No. 6 in the division, while dos Anjos sits at No. 10. However, a win for either could conceivably launch them back into the top-five and see them fighting for a title shot in their next match.

Meanwhile, Clarke will get a chance to fight in front of an adoring hometown crowd.

The Edmontonian has been out of action since losing to Joe Duffy last July, but has put together a string of wins in the UFC that includes victories over Al Iaquinta and John Maguire.

In White, Clarke will be taking on a guy who has gone 2-3 in the UFC but made major headlines when he shocked many in the MMA community by beating Artem Lobov — Conor McGregor’s training partner, for those wondering — last year.

These two fights are being added to a deep card featuring a flyweight title fight between champion Demetrious Johnson and Ray Borg, a women’s bantamweight title fight between Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko, as well as a blockbuster heavyweight matchup between Francis Ngannou and former champion Junior Dos Santos.

Tickets for UFC 215 go on sale to the public on Friday, while the UFC newsletter pre-sale starts Thursday and the UFC Fight Club pre-sale begins Wednesday.