MMA Odds and Ends for Wednesday: Mark Hunt vs. Alistair Overeem rematch in the works for UFC 209

480 Mark Hunt vs. Alistair Overeem rematch in the works for UFC 209  ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported Tuesday that Mark Hunt will face Alistair Overeem in a rematch at UFC 209 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 4th. The only caveat is that Hunt will only take the fight if the UFC adds provisions in his contract to further protect him in case Overeem fails a drug test. Hunt (12-10-1, 1 No-Contest) has turned down fights for the last couple of months due to the UFC’s handling of Brock Lesnar’s two drug-test failures in back at UFC 200. Hunt lost to Lesnar by unanimous decision. Overeem (50-7) defeated Hunt by first-round submission back at Dream 5 in 2008. The 36-year-old is coming off a first-round knockout loss to Stipe Miocic in a heavyweight title fight at UFC 203 back in September. The loss snapped a four-fight win streak. Jose Aldo says UFC is working him fighting for interim lightweight title  In an interview with MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani on Tuesday, UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo revealed that he’s not fighting Max Holloway at UFC 208 in Brooklyn. In addition, the Brazilian mentioned that he’ll be fighting “Either March 3 or March 4, [he] can’t remember.” But at lightweight, not at featherweight. “I believe they will soon announce an interim lightweight title fight with me. They’ve been trying to find me an opponent, and — surprise, surprise — at least one has already turned down the fight against me. I’m waiting to see who they will find. They’ve asked me not to say anything. I won’t say who it is because it’s a surprise. A guy we never thought would turn it down turned it down, because his father didn’t think it was good. I’m tired of people turning down fights. I want to put some pressure so they’ll take the fight.” Paul Felder vs. Gilbert Burns set for UFC 208 UFC officials announced that a lightweight matchup between Paul Felder and Gilbert Burns is slated for the preliminary portion of UFC 208 on February 11th. Felder (12-3) heads into this matchup off a TKO loss to Francisco Trinaldo at UFC Fight Night 95 in September, which snapped a two-fight win streak. Prior to that, he earned victories over Daron Cruickshank and Josh Burkman. Burns (11-2) is also coming off a loss in his last bout, as he suffered a decision setback to Michel Prazeres on that same UFC Fight Night 95 card. The Blackzilians fighter heads into this matchup losing two of his last three fights. UFC 208 takes place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Here’s an updated look at the card… Holly Holm (10-2) vs. Germaine de Randamie (6-3) – For vacant women’s featherweight title Glover Teixeira (25-5) vs. Jared Cannonier (9-1) Derrick Lewis (17-4) vs. Travis Browne (18-5-1) Luis Hendrique (10-2) vs. Marcin Tybura (14-2) Roan Carnerio (21-10) vs. Ryan LaFlare (12-1) Ian McCall (13-5-1) vs. Neil Seery (16-12) Islam Makachev (13-1) vs. Nik Lentz (27-7-2) Randy Brown (9-1) vs. George Sullivan (17-5) Wilson Reis (21-6) vs. Yuta Sasaki (19-3-2) Jim Miller (28-8) vs. Dustin Poirier (20-5) Paul Felder (12-3) vs. Gilbert Burns (11-2)

Written by James Lynch

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