By Canadian Press

Canadian heavyweight Tanner Boser to battle Brazilian on April UFC Fight Night card

Feb 3, 2022 | 3:15 PM

Alberta heavyweight Tanner (The Bulldozer) Boser returns to action April 23 when he takes on Rodrigo Nascimento on a UFC Fight Night card.

Boser (20-8-1) is coming off a second-round KO of Ovince St. Preux last June that snapped a two-fight losing streak.

The 30-year-old mixed martial artist from Bonnyville, Alta., who now calls Edmonton home, accepted the Saint Preux fight on short notice after Saint Preux’s original opponent, Russian Maxim Grishin, was unable to compete due to visa issues. Saint Preux agreed to move up to heavyweight to face Boser, who had requested a quick return to action after a June 5 split-decision loss to Sweden’s Ilir (The Sledgehammer) Latifi.

Boser is 4-3-0 in the UFC with his other losses to former heavyweight champion Andrei (The Pit Bull) Arlovski and former interim titleholder Cyril (Bon Gamin) Gane.

Nascimento’s last fight, a win over France’s Alan Baudot last July, was changed to a no contest after the Brazilian flunked a doping test. He was suspended for six months.

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Nascimento (8-1-0 with one no contest) earned his UFC contract with a win on Dana White’s Contender Series. He is 1-1-0 with the no contest in UFC action.

The UFC has yet to confirm the main event or venue for the April 23 card.

Canadians Jesse (The Body Snatcher) Ronson and T.J. (The Truth) Laramie, meanwhile, have been added to an April 16 Fight Night card.

The main event of the card pits American-born Brazilian Vicente (The Silent Assassin) Luque, ranked fourth among welterweight contenders, against No. 5 Belal Muhammad. Venue has yet to be announced.

Ronson (21-10-0 with one no contest) will meet Mexican lightweight Rafa (Gifted) Garcia (12-2-0) while Laramie (12-4-0) takes on American Melsik (The Gun) Baghdasaryan (7-1-0).

Ronson is on his second stint with the UFC. He lost his first three fights in 2013-14 before returning to the promotion in July 2020. 

His submission win over Nicolas (Danish Dynamite) Dalby last time out was turned into a no contest when he failed a drug test. Suspended for 20 months, Ronson blamed tainted supplements.

The 36-year-old native of London, Ont., who moved up a weight class to take on Dalby, went 8-5-0 in-between UFC stints while balancing training and delivering cleaning supplies as a day job.

Baghdasaryan has won both his UFC bouts to date.

Laramie was slated to meet Baghdasaryan on Nov. 6 on the undercard of UFC 268 at Madison Square Garden but had to pull out due to a staph infection.

Both fighters are graduates of White’s Contender Series.

Laramie, a 24-year-old from Windsor, Ont., was the first Canadian to earn a UFC contract via the TV show. He lost his UFC debut by first-round submission to Darrick Miner in September 2020.

Laramie was due to face Damon (The Leech) Jackson last May but had to pull out due to injury.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2022

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press