Former UFC middleweight title challenger Demian Maia drops down to 170 pounds to face once-beaten South Korean standout Dong Hyun “Stun Gun” Kim at UFC 148: “Cruz vs Faber 3” on July 7th in Las Vegas, Nevada. The featured welterweight bout was announced by UFC officials today.

Also confirmed for the card this week was a light heavyweight trilogy bout between former UFC champions Forrest Griffin and “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz, as well as a middleweight showdown pitting Japanese veteran Riki Fukuda against rising star Constantinos “Costa” Philippou.

Maia (15-4-0) made an unsuccessful bid for the UFC Middleweight Championship in April 2010, but the jiu-jitsu specialist picked up wins in three of his next four fights. In January, he faced late-replacement opponent Chris Weidman and dropped a Unanimous Decision in a tepid affair on the UFC on FOX 2 main card. Maia now looks to start a new run in the welterweight division and he faces a solid test in Kim (15-1-1, 1 NC), a talented judoka who has tasted defeat just once in his mixed martial arts career. Kim rebounded from his first setback in July with a solid performance against Canadian Sean Pierson at UFC 141. He now aims to spoil Maia’s welterweight debut when the two face off on July 7th.

The trilogy bout between Griffin (18-7-0) and Ortiz (16-10-1) could potentially be Ortiz’s final appearance inside the Octagon. The long-time veteran has battled injury woes in recent years and has won just one of his past eight fights. Ortiz and Griffin split their first two meetings, with each one holding a razor-thin decision victory over the other. Griffin has won two of his past three bouts, including a win over Ortiz in 2009, but needs a big victory after suffering a crushing first-round knockout loss to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 134 in August.

Both Fukuda (18-5-0) and Philippou (10-2-0, 1 NC) look to continue to climb up the middleweight ranks after recent UFC victories. Fukuda returned from a lengthy layoff in February and defeated former WEC champion Steve Cantwell at UFC 144. Philippou has won three straight fights including a March 3rd victory over TUF 11 winner Court “The Crusher” McGee in Australia.

UFC 148: “Cruz vs Faber 3” takes place on July 7th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is headlined by a UFC Bantamweight Championship trilogy bout between Dominick “The Dominator” Cruz and “The California Kid” Urijah Faber.

UFC 148 Fight Card (to date; subject to change):

– Dominick “The Dominator” Cruz vs “The California Kid” Urijah Faber [UFC Bantamweight title]
– Rich “Ace” Franklin vs Cung Le
– Forrest Griffin vs “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz
– Michael “The Count” Bisping vs Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch
– Renan “Barao” Pegado vs Jeff “Hellbound” Hougland
– Demian Maia vs Dong Hyun “Stun Gun” Kim
– Riki Fukuda vs Constantinos “Costa” Philippou

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)