Rumored Heavyweight Bout Confirmed
A heavyweight bout between Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (27-8-2 MMA, 4-4 UFC) and "The Ultimate Fighter 10" runner-up Brendan Schaub (7-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) is set for UFC 128.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) passed along news of the bout this past month, and UFC executives today made it official.
UFC 128 takes place March 19 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., and the night's main card airs on pay-per-view.
Filipovic vs. Schaub currently has fourth billing on the card, which means it'll likely be televised.
Schaub tentatively was slotted for an early-year fight with former champion Frank Mir, which was a bout he heavily campaigned for, but instead gets Filipovic. Schaub, a former NFL and AFL player, has posted three consecutive wins (over Chase Gormley, Chris Tuchscherer and Gabriel Gonzaga) since his "TUF" loss to Nelson. The win over Gonzaga, which came at UFC 121, was his only fight that didn't end via knockout.
Filipovic, meanwhile, recently suffered a knockout loss to Mir in the final minute of a three-round snoozer at UFC 119. While the former PRIDE great has struggled to regain his once-dominant form, the striker entered that bout with four wins in his previous five fights, which included TKO wins over Mostapha Al Turk and Anthony Perosh and a submission win over Pat Barry. The loss during that streak came to top contender Junior Dos Santos.
The latest UFC 128 card now includes:
MAIN CARD
•Champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Rashad Evans (for light-heavyweight title)
•Urijah Faber vs. Eddie Wineland
•Jim Miller vs. Kamal Shalorus
•Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Brendan Schaub
•Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Nate Marquardt*PRELIMINARY CARD
•Joseph Benavidez vs. Ian Loveland
•Edson Barboza vs. Anthony Njokuani
•Kurt Pellegrino vs. Gleison Tibau
•Ricardo Almeida vs. Mike Pyle*•Nick Catone vs. Dan Miller*•Luiz Cane vs. Karlos Vemola*
* - Not officially announced
