Two more fights have been added to the UFC 135 card on September 24th in Denver, Colorado. The lighter weight classes will be on display when Diego “The Gun” Nunes faces Manny “The Anvil” Gamburyan at 145, and Cole “The Triangle” Escovedo takes on Takeya Mizugaki at 135 pounds.
Both fights were announced by the promotion today. All four fighters will be looking to rebound from recent setbacks. Nunes looked to be one win away from a UFC Featherweight Championship bout before falling to current top contender Kenny “KenFlo” Florian in a UFC 131 battle last month.
Nunes (16-2-0) saw his three-fight winning streak ended at the hands of Florian in their bout, but picked up a big UFC victory over former WEC champion Mike Brown at UFC 125 on New Year’s Day. He had posted a 4-1 record in the WEC prior to his current stint in the Octagon, but has gone to a decision in each of his last seven fights. Previously seen as one step away from a title shot, the talented striker and grappler must now fight his way back towards the top.
Gamburyan (11-6-0) racked up three straight wins in the WEC after he was cut from the UFC in 2009 and earned a win over the aforementioned Brown as well, in the form of a vicious first-round knockout. He was unable to follow up on the victory, however, and was knocked out by José Aldo in their WEC Featherweight Championship bout last year. Gamburyan returned to the UFC last month, but dropped a close decision to Tyson Griffin at UFC Live 4.
Escovedo (17-7-0) won his first two fights in 2010, including a highlight-reel finish of Yoshiro Maeda in DREAM, but suffered back-to-back defeats before the end of the year. He has encountered equally mixed success this year, as a January win earned him a long-awaited shot in the UFC. That came at UFC 130, but he was defeated by Renan “Barao” and has now dropped three of his last four fights.
Mizugaki (14-6-2) has alternated between wins and losses since making his WEC debut in a title fight with Miguel Torres in April of 2009. All but one of his fights since have gone to a decision and the striker is 1-1 inside the Octagon this year. His win came via Split Decision against Reuben Duran in March, but Mizugaki was defeated by another former WEC champion, Brian Bowles, at UFC 132 this month.
UFC 135 is expected to take place on September 24th at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. The event will be headlined by a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout between Jon “Bones” Jones and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
UFC 135 Fight Card (to date; subject to change):
– Jon “Bones” Jones vs Quinton “Rampage” Jackson [UFC Light Heavyweight Championship]
– Diego “The Dream” Sanchez vs Matt Hughes
– Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto vs “The Angel of Death” Damacio Page
– Takanori “Fireball Kid” Gomi vs Nate Diaz
– Diego “The Gun” Nunes vs Manny “The Anvil” Gamburyan
– Cole “The Triangle” Escovedo vs Takeya Mizugaki
– Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch vs Nick “The Promise” Ring
– Aaron Riley vs Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson
– Mark Hunt vs “Big” Ben Rothwell
– Travis “Hapa” Browne vs Rob “The Bear” Broughton
– James Te Huna vs Ricardo Romero
(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)