A welterweight bout has been added to UFC 168 in Las Vegas as Siyar Bahadurzada will meet John Howard on the preliminary card. 
UFC officials announced the fight booking on Friday afternoon.
UFC 168 will come from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on December 28th and will be headlined by a rematch as Chris Weidman defends the UFC middleweight title against former champion Anderson Silva.
Bahadurzada (21-5-1) made his debut with the UFC in 2012 and has gone 1-1 in the organization. His last appearance in the octagon came at UFC on FUEL TV 8 in March and he was defeated by Dong Hyun Kim.
Howard (21-8) has won three fights in a row and seven of his last eight. His is coming off a decision win over Uriah Hall at UFC Fight Night 26 in Boston and it was his first fight in the UFC since 2011.
The current UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva II card is below.
Chris Weidman (10-0) vs. Anderson Silva (33-5)
Ronda Rousey (7-0) vs. Miesha Tate (13-4)
Josh Barnett (33-6) vs. Travis Browne (15-1-1)
Michael Johnson (13-8) vs. Gleison Tibau (28-9)
Dustin Poirier (14-3) vs. Diego Brando (18-8)
Uriah Hall (7-4) vs. Chris Leben (22-10)
Dennis Siver (21-9) vs. Manny Gamburyan (13-7)
Jim Miller (22-4, 1NC) vs. Fabricio Camoes (14-7-1)
William Macario (6-1) vs. Bobby Voelker (24-10)
Guto Inocente (6-2) vs. Shane Del Rosario (11-2)
Siyar Bahadurzada (21-5-1) vs. John Howard (21-8)