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.
