Featherweight contender Dustin "The Diamond" Poirier returns to the Octagon for the first time since his May Fight of the Year candidate against Chan Sung Jung when he takes on The Ultimate Fighter 12 winner Jonathan Brookins at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on December 15.

Also verbally agreed to for the TUF 16 Finale card, which is headlined by the bout between Shane Carwin and Roy Nelson, is a flyweight battle between up and comers Tim Elliott and Jared Papazian.

Carwin vs. Nelson, Pyle vs. Head Top TUF Finale Bouts updated October 2
A heated rivalry between two of the sport’s hardest-hitting heavyweights will be settled on Saturday, Dec. 15 when the Ultimate Fighting Championship® makes its long awaited return to The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Former UFC interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin will meet The Ultimate Fighter® season 10 winner Roy “Big Country” Nelson in the night’s five-round main event. The two serve as opposing coaches on this season’s edition of The Ultimate Fighter® (Fridays, FX, 10 p.m. ET/PT) and will finally have the chance to trade leather this December.

Verbal agreements are in for a number of other bouts to take place that night.

Dangerous veteran Mike "Quicksand" Pyle will meet the 9-2 James Head, who's scored two straight wins since dropping to welterweight. Wrestling-based Nick "The Jersey Devil" Catone will face submission specialist TJ Waldburger in another clash of 170-pounders.

A lightweight match between debuting 14-1 Rustam "Tiger" Khabilov and undefeated Ultimate Fighter Live veteran Vinc "From Hell" Pichel will showcase the skills of the two finishers.

Bantamweights Reuben Duran and TUF Brasil's Hugo Viana have both verbally agreed to face each other on December 15th at The Ultimate Fighter Finale. Also at bantamweight, TUF 14's "Brutal" Johnny Bedford will be taking on TUF Brasil's Marcos "Vina" Vinicius.

Plus, this season’s The Ultimate Fighter® winner will be crowned when the Octagon®. The main card will air live on FX at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT.

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