Cody McKenzie takes on Yves Edwards at UFN 23, Jan. 22

Fresh off of an impressive ufc debut, one of the most recent additions to the UFC’s lightweight roster, Cody McKenzie will make a quick return back inside the octagon when he faces one of the pioneers of the division, Yves Edwards.

It’s a tall task for the equally tall six-foot Alaskan fisherman, but he’s up for the challenge.

Cody made quick work of fellow cast mate on the twelfth season of TUF in Aaron Wilkinson, where he was able to submit the soft spoken Brit with a first-round guillotine choke, which has become McKenzie’s trademark maneuver, having finished his last ten opponents in a row with the same maneuver.

“UFC Fight Night 23″ which has also been dubbed “UFC Fight for the Troops 2″ takes place in Fort Hood in Killeen, Tex. on Jan. 22. The event was originally expected to be headlined by a lightweight clash pitting former title challenger Kenny Florian against budding contender Evan Dunham, however “Ken-Flo” has since bowed out of the 155-pound contest due to an undisclosed injury.

Melvin Guillard has since stepped up to fill in for Florian, and his original opponent Yves Edwards was left in limbo before the recent addition of McKenzie to the card. MMAJunkie.com first reported the news of the sudden change in opponents, and later confirmed the news once again when they had McKenzie call in as a guest on the MMAJunkie Radio program earlier today.

Yves was last seen in action when he soundly defeated veteran John Gunderson at UFC Fight Night 22, which took place this past September. Edwards dominated Gunderson every round with his effective stand up aqnd adept grappling skills, which later resulted in a unanimous decision victory in his favor. The win marked Yves return to the worlds largest organization in more than four years spent away from the octagon.

So, MMA peeps, what do you make of the match up? Will the wily McKenzie be able to use his patented guillotine choke and submit the veteran in Yves? Sound off in the comment section below.