Eddiva faces White at UFC Fight Night Manila

MANILA, Philippines – The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has added another homegrown talent to its inaugural fight card in the country on May 16 as Team Lakay standout Mark Eddiva squares off with Alex White in a three-round featherweight tussle.

UFC officials announced the fight booking on Tuesday, February 24 (PH Time) as the aforementioned match-up will serve as one of the undercards at UFC‘s first Philippine live event now-numbered as “Fight Night 66” that is scheduled to take place at the 20,000-seater SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila.

Eddiva (6-1) had his first Octagon appearance in March 2014 when he outpointed Jumabieke Tuerxun via unanimous decision.

His second UFC outing earned him his first career loss as Eddiva yielded to Edmilson “Kevin” Souza by second-round technical knockout on the preliminary card of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 season finale three months later.

After his disappointing setback to Souza, the 29-year-old Eddiva was given an opportunity to redeem himself by facing Mike De La Torre at UFC Fight Night 55 this past November, but he was forced to pull out due to an injury that prevented him from engaging in full training camp.

In a previous interview with Team Lakay mentor Mark Sangiao, Eddiva’s trainer disclosed that the 5-foot-8 fighter is in top condition to compete at UFC Fight Night 66.

“Mark is already in top shape and is ready to go anytime,” said Sangiao, who is expected to have a busy night on May 16 as he will also be in the corner of Eddiva’s colleague Roldan Sangcha-an when he battles Jon delos Reyes.

On the other hand, White (10-2) is likely in a must-win situation as he dropped back-to-back bouts since his spectacular UFC debut in April 2014 that saw him finish Estevan Payan by first-round knockout.

The 26-year-old White failed to duplicate the feat as he bowed down to Lucas Martins via third-round knockout last July before tasting another setback in the hands of Clay Collard by unanimous decision five months later.

UFC Fight Night 66 is headlined by a featherweight super-fight between Urijah Faber and Frankie Edgar. – Rappler.com