Report: Michael Johnson Faces Darren Elkins At UFC Fight Night St. Louis

A featherweight division attraction may be added to the upcoming UFC Fight Night St. Louis as #9 (LW) Michael Johnson is in action against #9 Darren Elkins.

It was Johnson who announced the fight through Instagram:

 

The next fight is on!! And oh is it a great one for many many reasons! THE #1 FIRST EVER hometown fight in #stlouis plus my debut into a new division!! JAN 14th! #fightime #saintlouis #stlouis #teammenace #teammj #MichaelJohnson #ufc#cardinals #blues #budlight #budweiser #scotttradecenter #anheuserbusch #grindtime #titannutrition #homecoming #hometown #home #january #iseestraps

A post shared by Michael johnson (@menace155) on Nov 9, 2017 at 11:52am PST

Johnson (17-12-0) has won just one of five under the UFC banner, which came over Dustin Poirier at UFC Fight Night 94. Johnson is also making his featherweight division debut in this fight, earning a record of 9-8-0 as a lightweight. Johnson made it to the finals of the UFC Ultimate Fighter 12, losing to Jonathan Brookins in that final fight.

Elkins (23-5-0) enters the fight on the strength of a five fight winning streak, last defeating Dennis Bermudez at UFC On Fox 25. Elkins hasn’t suffered a defeat in nearly three years, which came to Hacran Dias by decision at UFC Fight Night 58. Elkins has seen his last nine UFC fights go to the third round and eight of those fights went to the judges scorecards.

UFC Fight Night St. Louis takes place on Sunday, January 14 from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri with no main event announced at this time. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on Fox Sports 1.