This weekend is kind of a big deal as the UFC steps up to the plate to offer live coverage of ‘UFC Fight Night 26: Shogun Vs Sonnen’ during FOX Sports 1’s launch night and we’ve got the stacked fight card for you below.
Headlining the show is a light-heavyweight fight between Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua and Chael Sonnen. Both fighters are looking to rebound from a recent loss with ‘Shogun’ have dropped a unanimous decision verdict to current No.1 contender Alexander Gustafsson, while Sonnen was TKO’d by Jon Jones in a title fight earlier this year.
Co-main event honors go to a hard-hitting heavyweight encounter as Alistair Overeem returns to action against Travis Browne with both men considered to be potential title contenders at some stage in the future.
Bantamweight star Urijah Faber also competes on the main card, taking on the crafty Iuri Alcantara, while Matt Brown looks to extend his unbeaten run to six fights when he takes on another UFC veteran Mike Pyle.
The extended six-fight main card is then rounded out by TUF 17 finalist Uriah Hall looking for his first UFC win against the returning John ‘Doomsday’ Howard, while Joe Lauzon gets to compete in front of his fellow Bostonians against Michael Johnson.
Overall it’s perhaps not quite as star-studded a line-up as some had believed we were going to get, but it is pay-per-view quality and one thing you can’t fault them for on this occasion is strength-in-depth when you consider that even the preliminary card has great fights like Michael McDonald Vs Brad Pickett and Max Holloway Vs Conor McGregor and Manny Gamburyan Vs Cole Miller to name but a few.
Check out the full line-up below.
Main Card:
Mauricio Rua vs. Chael Sonnen
Travis Browne vs. Alistair Overeem
Iuri Alcantara vs. Urijah Faber
Matt Brown vs. Mike Pyle
Uriah Hall vs. John Howard
Michael Johnson vs. Joe Lauzon
Prelims:
Michael McDonald vs. Brad Pickett
Max Holloway vs. Conor McGregor
Mike Brown vs. Steven Siler
Diego Brandao vs. Daniel Pineda
Manny Gamburyan vs. Cole Miller
Cody Donovan vs. Ovince St. Preux
Ramsey Nijem vs. James Vick
