Three Middleweight Matchups Added To Upcoming UFC Cards
Three middleweight bouts have been added to upcoming UFC cards as Jason Lambert will drop down from light heavyweight to meet Jason Day at UFC 88, Alessio Sakara will take on UFC newcomer Joe Vedepo at UFC Fight Night 15, and contenders Thales Leites and Goran Reljic will square off at UFC 90.
The trio of bouts were recently reported by Five Ounces of Pain, MMA Junkie, and MMA Weekly.
Jason Lambert (23-8) started his UFC career with three straight victories but has since dropped three of his last four bouts including back-to-back losses to Wilson Gouveia and Luiz Cane. He will make his middleweight debut at UFC 88 on September 6th in Atlanta against Jason Day (17-6), who dispatched Alan Belcher via first-round TKO in his UFC debut in April but was stopped by Michael Bisping via first-round TKO at UFC 85 in June.
Alessio Sakara (12-7) has gone just 3-4 in the UFC, posting victories over Elvis Sinosic, Victor Valimaki, and James Lee. Sakara made his middleweight debut against Chris Leben at UFC 82, losing via first-round TKO. He will take on Joe Vedepo (7-1) on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night 15 on September 17th in Omaha, Nebraska. In his last fight, Vedepo, who has never gone the distance in his professional career, won the Midwest Cage Championship middleweight title with a late third-round verbal submission victory over Brian Green in June.
Thales Leites (13-1) has won four straight bouts in the UFC following his UFC debut loss to Martin Kampmann in late-2006. Leites posted victories over Pete Sell, Floyd Sword, and Ryan Jensen then defeated former middleweight title challenger Nate Marquardt via split decision at UFC 85 in June. Goran Reljic (8-0) is undefeated in his professional career, including a UFC debut victory over Wilson Gouveia at UFC 84 in May. Reljic, the 2007 European Gracie Jiu Jitsu champion, will drop down from light heavyweight to the 185-pound middleweight division to take on Leites at UFC 90 on October 25th in Chicago.
For the latest UFC 90 rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section.
(Pictured: Jason Day)
I think Thales Leites and Goran Reljic is really good matchup. This will be like candy.
If Lambert and Sakara lose again we will probably see them in Affliction after.
Day looked awesome against belcher so I was dissapointed when he looked like a punching bag against bisping. Hopefully he bounces back.
thats cause bisping is the top man, cant wait till he kicks lebans ass then gets at hendo,franklin,silva and puts all u haters in your place.
You can never count leben out! I can’t wait for the fight tonight.
JohnBoy,
dont get me wrong Bisbing is good, but lets see him get past Leben seriously before u state that he would get at Franklin, Henderson, or Silva…. mind you that Bisbing got out struck by Hamill (Bisbing should have 2 losses and u know it) after stating that how would he strike with Silva? he got out wrestled by Rashaad again how would he fair against Henderson? plus Anderson Silva is better on the ground than Bisbing and Henderson is also a striker than Bisbing… o i left out Franklin huh well cuz i would like to see that fight IF Bisbing gets past Leben…. hey but Bisbing is looking better at MW thats forsure..
Dint franklin say he is moving to LHW?
Bisping is one of the fighters that the UFC has given carefully thought out opponents to make sure they sell the UK on the sport.
Im not saying he sucks but he has had an easy road to this point. He looked great against Day but Jason wasn’t ready for that level of competition just like Bisping is not ready for Hendo, Franklin or Silva.
he is to fight Matt Hamill,but see Franklin is stuck i believe he cant beat Anderson Silva, he wont be able to beat lets say Wanderlei, Chuck ect.. too big to cut to 170, maybe he is trying to get a rematch with Machida i dunno i think he just wants something different than getting ran over by Anderson Silva….. everyone has a “punchers” chance against Anderson but the guy is just working through whoever Joe Silva puts infront of him…
Mikew,
nicely put, the UFC may or maynot be protecting him i can see that argument, but frankly i only that he wont rematch Matt, a majority of his fans wont admit that the decision was bull, after that point i stopped really cheering for the guy, he is super talented but excuse after excuse yada yada, he lost to Evans won in MW not all of a sudden people think he can stand with Anderson or wrestle with Henderson NO, Leben isnt the best in the world but he has the power and skill (term used loosely) to beat Bisbing thats my 75 pennies
Agreed, i never really liked Bisping but after his fight with Matt i was pissed. That was a bull call. I think the UFC is protecting to many of its fighters which is a shame because we get to see fewer exciting match ups. I would rather respect Bisping if he lost to Henderson then if he beat some Ultimate Fighter reject. Guys like Guida get a lot of respect from me because win or lose they fight the toughest and always put on a show, and those are the guys that MMA needs. I don’t want UFC to turn into WWE and have guys like the Undertaker and HHH never lose, it wouldn’t be exciting.
I think that if Bisping destroy Leben there will be no doubt that he is a serious contender to be champion. But im so sure of that. Leben have KO power and can caught him. Even if he never been TKO.
Marko,
Perhaps I am misunderstanding your WWE analogy but you are aware that HHH and the Undertaker’s fights are pre-determined right?
agreed Marko,
yet i dont think that the UFC is going to turn into WWE, hunter hearce helmsley was weak annoying i even think originally british but when he became HHH o wow watchout now,,, hahahaha the days,,, Guida always brings it i just want to see fighters fight like he does win or lose he always fights with every ounce of his ability and i have major respect for that…..
randomness i miss Hillbilly Jim fyi HAHAHAHAHAHA
FR702,
Don’t get me started on wrestling stars from the 80s…..memories……
If Guida can get a little more technical in his fight game he will be next to unstoppable. His conditioning, stamina and endurance is unbelievable. Huerta got lucky in the end of their match. Neither fighter had quit in them but Guida was winning the match. That would be a rematch I would rather enjoy quite a bit.
Kris,
Fighter bashing is not accpeted….that I understand. What about Jenna Jameson bashing?
Ravishing Rick Rude
KOuch,
i can go literally all day on stars from the 80’s sooo i agree it wont go much further…
Guida is a little beast he is young and if he refines some technique he will be great, he has to stay a little raw though thats just him…
Nikita Koloff (NWA, use to fight Lex Luger all the time in cage matches) im dunn
last one MR Wonderful Paul Orndorff
Bisping is a ****, he moved to middleweight to escape Matt Hamill. Everyone knows Hamill was jobbed in England. He wouldn’t last 2 minutes with Henderson, Silva, or any top tier contender.
FR702,
Try this one on for size,
Magnum T.A.