The UFC’s August return to
Milwaukee has a new lightweight fight set for the bill.
Former WEC champion Jamie Varner
(21-7-1 MMA, 3-2 UFC) is set to meet Gleison Tibau (27-9 MMA, 11-7 UFC) at UFC
164. Sources with knowledge of the bout recently confirmed the fight booking to
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), and
UFC officials made the announcement Wednesday afternoon.
UFC 164 takes place Aug. 31 at
Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The card is headlined by a lightweight title fight
between champion Benson Henderson and top contender T.J. Grant. Also on the
card, Josh Barnett returns to the UFC in a heavyweight fight against former
champ Frank Mir.
Varner got back in the win
column in December with a split-decision win over Melvin Guillard at UFC 155 in
Las Vegas. Before that, he was submitted by Joe Lauzon in a “Fight of the Night”
bonus winner at UFC on FOX 4.
But it was his return to the
UFC on short notice at UFC 146 that has been the hallmark of his time since he
was the WEC champ. He upset Edson Barboza with a first-round TKO, becoming the
first fighter to beat the Brazilian.
After a rough run to end his
WEC career – an 0-3-1 mark in four fights – his return to the UFC has given him
a bit of a career resurgence.
Tibau has won two of his past
three fights, including a submission win over John Cholish at UFC on FX 8 a
month ago in Brazil. At UFC 156 in February, he dropped a split decision to
Evan Dunham to fall back in the loss column after a win over Francisco Trinaldo
in October.
Tibau will be going after his
first win streak since 2011, when he went 3-0, including a “Submission of the
Night” win over Rafaello Oliveira at UFC 130. The former welterweight and
Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt trains at American Top Team in South Florida.
The latest UFC 164 card
includes:
Champ Benson Henderson vs.
T.J. Grant - for UFC lightweight title
Josh Barnett vs. Frank Mir
Clay Guida vs. Chad Mendes
Erik Koch vs. Dustin Poirier
Ben Rothwell vs. Brandon Vera
Gleison Tibau vs. Jamie Varner
Chico Camus vs. Kyung Ho Kang
Nikita Krylov vs. Soa Palelei
Tim Elliott vs. Louis Gaudinot
Derek Brunson vs. Yoel Romero
Magnus Cedenblad vs. Jared
Hamman
Pascal Krauss vs. Hyun Gyu Lim
(Source)
