The first three bouts have been announced for the UFC's return to Oregon.
A flyweight matchup between Louis Smolka and Sergio Pettis is the most noteworthy matchup initially reported by The Oregonian for UFC Fight Night 96 at Portland's Moda Center.
Additionally, a middleweight matchup between Tamdan McCrory and Nate Marquardt was announced, as well as a heavyweight clash between Walt Harris and Shamil Abdurakhimov.
The Hawaiian Smolka (11-1) has won four straight fights, most recently a memorable second-round finish of Ben Nguyen at UFC FIght Night 91. Milwaukee's Pettis (14-2), meanwhile, has won two straight and four of five.
McCrory (14-4) is looking to get back into the win column after a first-round knockout loss at the hands of Krzysztof Jotko in June. The Binghamton, N.Y. native had won his three previous fights before the setback. In Marquardt (34-16-2), the former Strikeforce champ solders onward after a first-round knockout loss to Thiago Santos at UFC 198, which was his sixth loss in his past eight bouts.
The American Top Team's Harris (8-4) is looking for his third win in his past four fights, while Dagestan's Abdurakhimov (16-3) has taken four of his past five.