Canadian bantamweight Brad Katona, winner of The Ultimate Fighter 27 (at featherweight), will return to the cage next month. Katona has signed on with the rising Elite MMA Championship, and will face Stipe Brcic at EMC 6.
The event takes place October 31. The promotion announced the news on social media on Tuesday.
🚨Official!🚨 🇭🇷 Stipe Brčić (8-1) defends his EMC bantamweight title against TUF winner 🇨🇦🇮🇪 @bradkatona (8-2) on October 31st in 🇩🇪! #EMC6 live on @FiteTV!! pic.twitter.com/GTNnaR8PPG
— EMC MMA 🇩🇪🇭🇷🇪🇺 (@EMC_Promotion) September 22, 2020
Katona (8-2) wound up going 2-2 in the UFC before being released earlier this year. Katona’s departure from the promotion came as something as a surprise, as although he was on a two-fight skid, he was still a TUF champion and batting .500 inside the octagon.
The SBG Ireland fighter last competed in September, where he lost a unanimous decision against Hunter Azure. His other loss came to top 135lb’er Merab Dvalishvili. “Superman” started his career at 8-0, including his TUF 27 win over Jay Cucciniello, and a follow-up victory over Matthew Lopez.
Stipe Brcic (8-1) will enter the bout with Katona on a three-fight win streak. Earlier this year, he won twice in a night at EMC 4, as part of the promotion’s single-night bantamweight tournament.
EMC 6 will also feature UFC alum Ismail Naurdiev (20-4) taking on Amiran Gogoladze (11-1), in the finale of the promotion’s welterweight grand prix. That fight will serve as the evening’s main event. The card will stream via Fite.
