Brad Katona | Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
UFC veteran Brad Katona has his first fight since parting ways with the organization.
The Ultimate Fighter 27 winner will challenge ELITE MMA Championship titleholder Stipe Brcic (8-1) for his bantamweight championship at EMC 6 on Oct. 31 in Dusseldorf, Germany, the promotion announced via press release.
This mark’s Katona’s first booking after he announced that he was released by the UFC in February. The first Canadian to win a mainline TUF tournament, Katona (8-2) went 2-2 inside the octagon, dropping both of his last two appearances by unanimous decision to Hunter Azure and Merab Dvalishvili.
According to the release, Katona has been signed to a multi-fight contract.
Brcic, who hails from Croatia, captured the EMC 135-pound title by winning a four-man, one-night tournament at EMC 4 in February. He outpointed Kewin Jacques Rangel by unanimous decision in the semifinals before finishing Luca Iovine with a rear-naked choke in the finals.
EMC 6 will be available to watch live on FITE TV. In the main event, UFC veteran Ismail Naurdiev (20-4) fights Amiran Gogoladze (11-1) for a vacant welterweight title.