Ben Henderson Meets Rustam Khabilov in Albuquerque

The UFC will be heading to Albuquerque, NM for the first time in it's 20 year existence, June 7th.  The event will be a Fight Night Card headlined by former UFC/WEC Lightweight Champion, Benson "Smooth"  Henderson taking on Russian standout Rustam Khabliov in a 5-round fight.

Former champ, Benson Henderson, wants to prove himself against the rising contender, Khabilov, so that he can prove that his controversial decision win over Josh Thomson was not a fluke.  A win for Khabilov will get him the respect that he deserves and join the league of contenders vying for a shot at the title.  It will not be an easy fight for either man.  It is sure to be an entertaining fight and definitely main event worthy on a Fight Night card.  It will be interesting to see if we see any of Greg Jackson's fighters on the card.  Many of the UFC's top stars fight out of Jackson's MMA in Albuquerque.  UFC FLyweight John Dodson has already began to petition for a spot on the card:

Post by John "Magician" Dodson.

UFC 170: Evans vs. Cormier in February

In late November, former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans hinted to the public that he may possibly be facing Daniel Cormier in Cormier's 205 lb debut.  It has now been officially announced that the two of them will be facing each other at UFC 170 on February 22 in Las Vegas.  I feel that this will be a tough test for Cormier as a first fight in a new weight class.  Cormier is an Olympic level wrestler with good striking who has remained undefeated in all of his 13 pro MMA bouts.  So far Cormier has defeated two former UFC champions (Josh Barnett and Frank Mir) and if he were to defeat Evans, he would make it three champions defeated.  This is a very important fight for Evans, who is getting back to his usual winning ways after a split decision win over Dan Henderson and a first round TKO victory over Chael Sonnen in November.  If he were to win this fight followed by another fight I think we could see him challenge for the title again by late 2014 or early 2015.

Also added to the card is a Welterweight fight between two of the top contenders in the UFC Welterweight Division who both are coming off of losses in their last bouts.  Brazilian Jiu Jitsu specialist and former title challenger at 185 lbs, Demian Maia, will suare off with GSP's training partner Rory MacDonald.  Rory MacDonald is coming off of a decision loss to Robbie Lawler who easily out-scored him in there bout at the UFC 20th Anniversary event, UFC 167.  Rory was very reserved in that fight and lacked aggression after promising to entertain in that fight.  Demian recently lost to high-level grappler Jake Shields in their main event fight at UFC Fight Night 29.

Plus a bout between Rafael dos Anjos and Rustam Khabilov in the UFC's Lightweight clash between two exciting fighters.

UFC Fight for the Troops 3 Weigh in Results

Main Card
Tim Kennedy (186) vs. Rafael Natal (185.5)
Liz Carmouche (135) vs. Alexis Davis (134)
Ronny Markes (185.5) vs. Yoel Romero (185.5)
Jorge Masvidal (155.5) vs. Rustam Khabilov (155)
Colton Smith (155.5) vs. Michael Chiesa (156)

Preliminary Card
Bobby Green (155) vs. James Krause (155.5)
George Roop (145.5) vs. Francisco Rivera (146)
Dennis Bermudez (146) vs. Steven Siler (146)
Amanda Nunes (136) vs. Germaine de Randamie (136)
Chris Camozzi (186) vs. Lorenz Larkin (185)
Yves Edwards (156) vs. Yancy Medeiros (156)
Neil Magny (171) vs. Seth Baczynski (171)
Derek Brunson (186) vs. Brian Houston (185)