Yushin Okami and Alan Belcher welcomed each other to the octagon six years ago at UFC 62 where Okami won a unanimous decision. Now Belcher will get a chance at redemption as the two are set to square off at UFC 155. The middleweight bout was recently added to the UFC’s year-end card on Dec. 29 in Las Vegas at a venue to be determined and airs live on pay-per-view. UFC officials today announced the matchup.
Belcher was originally scheduled to meet Vitor Belfort at UFC 153 on Oct. 11, but Belfort was re-booked to challenge light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones at UFC 152 on Sept. 22.
Okami outscored Belcher in their first meeting using his power and grappling to pull out the victory. He then went on to win three in a row before being stopped by ex-champ Rich Franklin in a title eliminator at UFC 72.
Belcher went on to win his next octagon bout with a highlight-reel KO over Jorge Santiago, but he would continue to struggle against grapplers, losing by submission to Kendall Grove. Belcher has definitely stepped up his game and in May he put the doubters to rest as he was able to escape the vicious submission skills and heel hook of Rousimar Palhares at UFC on FOX 3 and went on to earn a first-round TKO.
Meanwhile, Okami has stalled near the top of the division. He went 6-1 following the setback to Franklin and earned a title shot against champ Anderson Silva, which was a very lopsided fight. Okami also suffered another setback against Tim Boetsch after dominating the fight, getting tko’ed in the third round at UFC 144. Okami recently rebounded with a third-round TKO over Buddy Roberts at UFC 150.
The latest UFC 155 card now includes:
- Champ Junior Dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez – for heavyweight title*
- Tim Boetsch vs. Chris Weidman
- Forrest Griffin vs. Chael Sonnen*
- Joe Lauzon vs. Gray Maynard
- Phil De Fries vs. Matt Mitrione
- Chris Leben vs. Karlos Vemola
- Alan Belcher vs. Yushin Okami*
* – Not officially announced