Two light heavyweight bouts have been added to the upcoming UFC 139: “Velasquez vs dos Santos” card on November 19th in San Jose, California. Ryan “Darth” Bader faces Jason “The Hitman” Brilz, while “The American Psycho” Stephan Bonnar squares off with Kyle “Kingsbu” Kingsbury.
The fights were officially announced by the promotion earlier today. Both Bader and Brilz will look to rebound from losses in their most recent bouts. Bonnar and Kingsbury, both of whom are currently in the midst of winning streaks, will be aiming to take another step towards contendership at 205.
Bader (12-2-0), the light heavyweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 8, reigned undefeated through his first 12 fights and holds big victories over former top contender “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine and one-time PRIDE standout Antonio Rogerio “Minotoro” Nogueira. However, he suffered his first defeat earlier this year at the hands of current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon “Bones” Jones and was shockingly upset by “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz at UFC 132 last month. Now in need of a big win, Bader will face off with a fellow wrestler.
Brilz (18-4-1) also opened his career with an impressive streak; losing just one time in his first 19 bouts and earning UFC wins over Brad Morris and Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch. He is just 1-3 in his last four fights, however, and two of those losses came in the form of contentious Split Decisions against Eliot “The Fire” Marshall and the aforementioned Nogueira. Most recently, Brilz was knocked out by veteran Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko in just 20 seconds at UFC 129 and, like Bader, he now needs a big victory in order to get back on track.
Bonnar (13-7-0) looked to be one loss away from the end of his UFC tenure inside the cage after three straight defeats, but bounced back with a pair of big wins last year. First avenging a loss to “The Polish Experiment” Krzysztof Soszynski in July, Bonnar then went on to defeat Igor “The Duke” Pokrajac at the TUF 12 Finale in December. He has not fought since then, but a win over the surging Kingsbury would be huge for the ten-year veteran.
Kingsbury (11-2-0, 1 NC) has lost just one time inside the Octagon, in his promotional debut against “Filthy” Tom Lawlor in 2008. Since then, he has won four straight fights and is coming off of victories over Ricardo Romero and Fabio Maldonado this year. The bout with Bonnar will mark a step up in competition for Kingsbury, but he has fared well thus far and an upset of the TUF 1 runner-up would make a big statement.
UFC 139 takes place on November 19th at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
UFC 139 Fight Card (to date; subject to change):
– Cain Velasquez vs Junior “Cigano” dos Santos [UFC Heavyweight Championship]
– “The California Kid” Urijah Faber vs Brian Bowles
– Rick “The Horror” Story vs Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann
– Ryan “Darth” Bader vs Jason “The Hitman” Brilz
– Rafael dos Anjos vs Gleison Tibau
– “The American Psycho” Stephan Bonnar vs Kyle “Kingsbu” Kingsbury
– “All-American” Chris Weidman vs “Filthy” Tom Lawlor
(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)