With the recent announcement that Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz will meet for a third time in the Octagon, UFC chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta confirmed on Twitter that another trilogy bout will take place this summer.
A UFC bantamweight title fight between champion Dominick Cruz and top challenger Urijah Faber has been set for UFC 148, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on July 7 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Faber (26-5) is coming off a first-round submission win over former WEC 135-pound champ Brian Bowles at UFC 139, while Cruz (19-1) is coming off a unanimous decision win over Demetrious Johnson in October.
Cruz’s only career loss came at the hands of Faber back in March 2007 when the two men competed as featherweights in the WEC. Faber — who at the time was the 145-pound champion and considered one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the sport — submitted Cruz in 98 seconds at WEC 26.
After one more fight at 145 pounds Cruz dropped to bantamweight where he has gone 9-0, won the WEC title in 2010, and was crowned the first UFC bantamweight champ when the WEC merged with the UFC in late 2010.
At UFC 132, Cruz defeated Faber by unanimous decision to even their series 1-1.
Prior to the anticipated grudge match, the two rivals will serve as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 15 — the first season of the popular reality series that will take on a new, live format.
Wonderboy vs. The Immortal
Just one week removed from his impressive UFC debut, Stephen (Wonderboy) Thompson already has his second fight with the promotion lined up.
The striking sensation announced on his Twitter account that he will be fighting fellow welterweight Matt (The Immortal) Brown at UFC 145.
Both men are coming off KO wins at UFC 143. Thompson (6-0) won the “knockout of the night” award for his first-round headkick KO of Dan Stittigen, while Brown (13-11) defeated TUF 13 veteran Chris Cope with a second-round TKO.
UFC 145 was originally scheduled to take place on March 24 in Montreal, but the UFC changed the date and venue. It now takes place on April 21 in Atlanta. Canadian fighters Rory MacDonald, Mark Hominick, Mark Bocek,John Makdessi and Chris Clements are all scheduled to fight on the card.
Former WEC champ defeats UFC veteran
Former WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner defeated UFC veteran Drew Fickett by submission due to strikes at XFC 16 Friday night.
The win was Varner’s second straight. Prior to that Varner (19-6-1-2NC) had lost four of six bouts.
The loss was Fickett’s fourth in a row and dropped his record to 41-17.
