By Damon Martin

The undercard for Ultimate Fighting Championship 79 – featuring a main event of Matt Serra vs. Matt Hughes for the welterweight title – is starting to fill out as MMAWeekly has confirmed that Alaskan fighter Doug Evans will return to the Octagon to face grappler Mark Bocek in a lightweight bout.

In his UFC debut, Evans impressed many people with his performance against Roger Huerta. Although he lost the bout, he controlled Huerta for virtually the entire first round before the Texan rebounded in the second session.

Now Evans, who was originally asked to fight Jorge Gurgel at UFC 77 but had to bow out due to an injury, returns to face another fighter currently sporting a 0-1 record in the UFC in Mark Bocek.

Bocek made his debut at UFC 73 and faced top lightweight contender Frankie Edgar. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter succumbed to Edgar in the first round, but looks for redemption against Evans.

UFC 79 takes place on Dec. 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.