Three additional bouts have now been announced for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to Brazil at UFC 134: Rio on August 27th. Among the additions to the card is a 205-pound rematch between former UFC Light Heavyweight Champions Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Forrest Griffin.
In other action on the card, former top prospect Thiago Tavares will look to get back on the winning track when he faces veteran lightweight Spencer “The King” Fisher in a crucial fight for both, while unbeaten Bulgarian light heavyweight Stanislav Nedkov takes on Brazil’s Luiz “Banha” Cane.
Rua (19-5-0) and Griffin (18-6-0) first squared off at UFC 76 in September 2007. In a bout that most insiders felt that Rua would handily win, Griffin rallied back after a tough first round and submitted the fatigued 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Champion with a third-round rear-naked choke. Griffin would go on to win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship from Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in his next fight, but lost the title to “Suga” Rashad Evans in late 2008.
While Griffin has now won two straight fights, the most recent of which coming at the expense of former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich “Ace” Franklin, Rua is coming off of the most devastating loss of his career. After capturing Griffin’s former title from then-champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida in their second meeting, Rua lost the belt to rising star Jon “Bones” Jones in lopsided fashion at UFC 128 last month. Both Rua and Griffin will be looking to get back into title contention, and it remains to be seen whether Rua’s past cardio issues will once again hinder him in the August rematch.
Tavares (15-4-1) is in desperate need of a big victory against Fisher (24-7-0), who has also struggled in recent outings. Tavares is 2-1-1 in his last four fights, but suffered back-to-back losses before that and was most recently knocked out in brutal fashion by Shane Roller at UFC On Versus 3. Fisher has now dropped three of four, but has been involved in close decisions where his opponents have taken over as the fights progress. The matchup pits Tavares’s excellent grappling against Fisher’s striking, and will most likely be decided by where the fight takes place.
Nedkov (11-0-0) rose to fame in Sengoku and will now make his long-awaited UFC debut after injuries cancelled a pair of planned 2010 bouts. The heavy-handed wrestler will put his unblemished record on the line against Cane (11-3-0, 1 NC), who is a powerful puncher as well. Cane recently bounced back after consecutive TKO losses by stopping Eliot “The Fire” Marshall in short order, but he will face a very tough test in the debuting Nedkov. The fighters have just three decisions between them, and a finish is a strong possibility.
UFC 134: Rio takes place on August 27th at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)