After nearly 18 months out of action, Ohio native Justin Edwards (8-4, 2-4 UFC) is set to return to the Octagon this Saturday night when he faces Joe Proctor (10-3, 3-2 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 68 in New Orleans.
The 32-year-old Iron Tiger Fight Team member could potentially be fighting for his UFC career when he and Proctor square off on the night’s preliminary card opener, which is set to kick off on Fox Sports 1 at 8pm ET.
After starting his career 6-0, Edwards was signed to compete on The Ultimate Fighter 13 as an injury replacement. After losing his first fight to eventual season champion Tony Ferguson, Edwards made his official UFC debut at the TUF 13 Finale, where he dropped a split decision to castmate Clay Harvison.
Edwards then earned victories in two of his next three outings, defeating Jorge Lopez via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 25 and then submitting veteran Josh Neer with a guillotine choke in the first round of their bout at UFC on FX 5. After a TKO loss to Brandon Thatch, Edwards decided to drop to lightweight, where he made his debut in a losig effort against Ramsey Nijem at UFC Fight Night 35 last January.
Edwards’ opponent this time around is the fellow TUF alum Proctor, who competed on the show’s 15th ‘live’ season. The Joe Lauzon disciple is looking to rebound from a loss himself, as he came up short against Yancy Medeiros at the TUF 20 Finale in December after reeling off back-to-back wins against Justin Salas and Cristiano Marcello in his previous two outings.
Edwards has been out of action since that last loss due to injury, but he is finally healthy and returns to competition this weekend.
UFC Fight Night 68 will be headlined by a middleweight bout featuring former PRIDE two-division champion Dan Henderson taking on Tim Boetsch. The event takes place at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, with the main card beginning at 10pm ET.
Photo courtesy Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com