A welterweight slug-fest has been added to December’s UFC 168 event in Las Vegas, as UFC officials announced that Siyar Bahadurzada (21-5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) will meet John Howard (21-8 MMA, 5-3 UFC) at the promotions year-end show.

John Howard made his octagon return at the “UFC Fight Night 26” event in Boston, where he scored a split-decision win over “The Ultimate Fighter 17” finalist Uriah Hall.  The result moved Howard to 7-1 in his past eight fights, with 5 of the seven wins coming by form of stoppage.

Meanwhile, Afghani slugger, Siyar Bahadurzada, will return to action for the first time in 9 months when he faces Howard this December. Siyar was smothered by Dong Hyun Kim at the “UFC on FUEL TV: Stann vs. Silva” event in March, losing a lopsided unanimous decision to the Korean fighter. Prior to that, Bahadurzada defeated Brazilian Paulo Thiago by first-round KO in his promotional debut back in April of 2012.

UFC 168 takes place December 28 live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is headlined by a middleweight title rematch between current champ Chris Weidman and former champion Anderson Silva.