Tuesday the UFC made the official announcement of the UFC 116 fight card. As rumored the main event will be Fighters.com second-ranked and UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (4-1) versus seventh-ranked UFC interim champion Shane Carwin (11-0) on July 3.
Other additions to the main card were “Sexyama” Yoshihiro Akiyama (14-2) versus ninth-ranked light heavyweight “The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva (34-10-1) and “The Experiment” Krzysztof Soszynski (20-9-1) and Stephan Bonnar (11-7) rematch.
Fights for the un-aired prelim card were also made official. Brendan Schaub (4-1) versus Chris Tuchscherer (16-2), “Da Spyder” Kendall Grove (11-7) versus Goran Reljic (8-1), “Lights Out” Chris Lytle (28-17-5) versus Matthew Brown (11-8) and Jonathan Madsen (3-0) versus Karlos Vemola (4-0).
Rumors had been flying around about Akiyama and Silva meeting inside the Octagon for well over a year. This fight is one the MMA hardcore are very excited about and a fight that will have the casual fan on the edge of their seats. This very well could win “Fight of the Night” at UFC 116.
The MMA world was buzzing after the fight between Bonnar and Soszynski ended in a TKO victory for “The Experiment”. Bonnar suffered a nasty cut on his head that came from an inadvertent headbutt but the referee ruled the cut stemmed from legal strikes. Bonnar appealed the decision and shockingly the Combat Sports Authority of New South Wales decided not to overturn the decision even though there was clear evidence of the headbutt. Now they get the chance to go back to war and the fans are hoping the result will be much different this time.
Bonnar needs a win here as he has lost three straight and five of his past seven. His opponent is 7-1 in his past eight fights with only one loss in the UFC. That loss came via a unanimous decision to “Truth” Brandon Vera (11-5)back in 2009 at UFC 102.
The entire UFC 116 card as of this release:
MAIN CARD
Champ Brock Lesnar vs. interim champ Shane Carwin (heavyweight title-unification bout)
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Wanderlei Silva
Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
Kurt Pellegrino vs. George Sotiropoulos – rumored
Cheick Kongo vs. Roy Nelson- rumored
PRELIMINARY CARD
Brendan Schaub vs. Chris Tuchscherer
Matt Brown vs. Chris Lytle
Kendall Grove vs. Goran Reljic
Jon Madsen vs. Karlos Vemola
Cesar Gracie Takes Judges to Task for UFC 143 Decision
Fabricio Werdum Interested in June Fight Against Frank Mir
Josh Koscheck Leaves American Kickboxing Academy
Comments
i think akiyama vs silva will be very nice fight….and akiyama will win IMHO – he is swifter, world class judoka and his kicks and punches are still developing…
I’m excited about the Akiyama/Silva fight. Akiyama is a very talented fighter and I believe we’re in for a good show. As far as who I think will win that fight, it’s tough to say…but with Akiyama’s fighting style, he certainly stands a good chance.