UFC 161 in Winnipeg on June 15th is stacking up to be a great card. This week we already found out that Antonio Rogerio Nogueira will fight Mauricio Rua in a rematch from back in Pride that ended up being the 2005 fight of the year.
Jake Shields is returning to the welterweight division to accept the challenge by Tyron Woodley who called out the former Strikeforce champ after his first UFC win when he knocked out Jay Hieron in the first round.
And now with the addition of Soa Palelei versus Stipe Miocic, UFC 161 is coming together nicely, and it just keeps getting better.
It didn’t take Dan Henderson long to get a new opponent after his recent split decision loss to Machida at UFC 157. Henderson was medically cleared.
A light heavyweight showdown between former Pride champion Dan Henderson (6-3 UFC) and former UFC champion Rashad Evans (12-3-1 UFC) is scheduled as one of the PPV’s headlining fights. No main event has been announced yet.
Rumors had surfaced that “Hendo” would retire, but we all knew better. He is determined to be UFC champ before he retires, and a win over Evans could put him back near the top of the division.
Evans is on a two fight skid losing back-to-back decisions to current light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira after being on a four fight win streak. Evans in a lot of spectators eyes looked horrible, sloppy, and just not there in his last fight. If he expects to put his name back in the title talk, he needs to take this fight very seriously or he will end up on his back.
~ Breaking News ~
A title fight between interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao ( 5-0 UFC) and former WEC bantamweight champ Eddie Wineland (2-2 UFC) will headline UFC 161.
If Cruz doesn’t heal up soon, he should be stripped of his title. Barao is defending the title like a true champion.