11-Bout Lineup Complete for UFC 123

Five new bouts were officially announced for UFC 123 Friday, bringing the total to 11 fights to be contested on Nov. 20 at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich.

The bouts announced include a possible “Fight of the Night” candidate in Joe Lauzon vs. George Sotiropoulos and a light heavyweight tilt between hot prospect Phil Davis and Tim Boetsch. Additionally, the card will feature two welterweight scraps and a lightweight contest, as Matt Brown takes on Rory MacDonald, Darren Elkins tackles Edson Barboza and Paul Kelly toes the line against Gabe Ruediger.

A competitor on “The Ultimate Fighter” season five, Lauzon made a splash in his first fight with the UFC four year ago when he destroyed former lightweight king Jens Pulver with a 48-second knockout at UFC 63 in Anaheim, Calif. He’s since had seven fights in the organization and fallen only to perennial title contender Kenny Florian and Canadian battler Sam Stout. He’s most recently coming off a first-round domination of Ruediger at UFC 118 in August. Lauzon battered Ruediger with punches before slapping on an armbar and ending the fight.

Sotiropoulos is also a “TUF” alum. The Aussie competed in season six, losing in the semifinal to Tommy Speer. Since then he’s been on a tear, winning seven straight fights and going undefeated in the promotion. Sotiropoulos holds victories over George Roop, Kurt Pellegrino and former lightweight title contender Joe Stevenson. Prior to joining the UFC, the Aussie fought the world-ranked Japanese lightweight Shinya Aoki in Shooto, but Sotiropoulos was disqualified for an illegal groin strike.

Davis was a four-time All-American wrestler at Penn State University and won the NCAA national championship at 197-pounds during his senior year. Since joining the world of MMA, Davis is undefeated in seven pro fights. The 26-year-old made his debut with the UFC in February and has run off three straight victories in the organization. “Mr. Wonderful” now fights out of San Diego, training with Alliance MMA.

An IFL veteran, Boetsch made his UFC debut in 2008, knocking out David Heath in the first round. “The Barbarian” then lost two of his next three fights and was cut from the promotion. After rattling off three straight wins outside the UFC, Boetsch returned to the big show at UFC 117 in August, defeating Todd Brown by unanimous decision.

UFC 123 will be headlined by a clash of former light heavyweight champions, as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson takes on karateka Lyoto Machida. The card also features a rubber match between former welterweight champions Matt Hughes and B.J. Penn.