Assuncao-Koch Official; UFC 128 Bill Complete with 12 Bouts
Sherdog.com Staff Mar 9, 2011
A rumored matchup between
UFC newcomers Raphael
Assuncao and Erik Koch was
made official by the promotion on Wednesday, completing the
12-fight card for UFC
128 “Shogun vs. Jones.”
Both ex-WEC featherweights were left without bouts in February when their respective opponents withdrew due to injuries. Assuncao (Pictured) was originally slated to meet Manny Gamburyan (back injury) at UFC 128, while Koch had been matched against Cub Swanson (tooth infection) for UFC Live 3 on March 3.
Assuncao-Koch will take place on the non-broadcast preliminary
portion of the card, which goes down March 19 at the Prudential
Center in Newark, N.J. The show’s other two dark matches feature
former WEC bantamweight title challenger Joseph
Benavidez against
Team Quest “Barn Owl” Ian
Loveland in a 135-pound affair, and New Jersey natives Dan Miller
and Nick
Catone squaring off at middleweight.
The UFC will once again transmit a pair of prelims via its Facebook page, beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Scheduled for the free stream -- which fans must “like” the promotion in order to access -- are a lightweight tilt between New Jersey’s Kurt Pellegrino and Gleison Tibau, and a welterweight contest pitting New Jersey-based Brazilian Ricardo Almeida against Xtreme Couture vet Mike Pyle.
At 9 p.m. ET, a further two preliminary bouts will be broadcast live in North America on Spike TV. Exciting lightweight strikers Edson Barboza and Anthony Njokuani will lead off the latest “UFC Prelims Live” special, followed by a battle of 205-pounders Luis Cane and Eliot Marshall.
Finally, at 10 p.m. ET, the pay-per-view card will feature five fights, topped by a light heavyweight title bout between champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and short-notice challenger Jon Jones. Former WEC champions Urijah Faber and Eddie Wineland will square off at 135-pounds, while Dan’s lightweight brother, Jim Miller, takes on Iranian-born wrestler Kamal Shalorus. A middleweight scrap between Japanese import Yoshihiro Akiyama and former contender Nate Marquardt, and a heavyweight match pairing former Pride star Mirko Filipovic with once-beaten prospect Brendan Schaub round out the bill.
Both ex-WEC featherweights were left without bouts in February when their respective opponents withdrew due to injuries. Assuncao (Pictured) was originally slated to meet Manny Gamburyan (back injury) at UFC 128, while Koch had been matched against Cub Swanson (tooth infection) for UFC Live 3 on March 3.
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The UFC will once again transmit a pair of prelims via its Facebook page, beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Scheduled for the free stream -- which fans must “like” the promotion in order to access -- are a lightweight tilt between New Jersey’s Kurt Pellegrino and Gleison Tibau, and a welterweight contest pitting New Jersey-based Brazilian Ricardo Almeida against Xtreme Couture vet Mike Pyle.
At 9 p.m. ET, a further two preliminary bouts will be broadcast live in North America on Spike TV. Exciting lightweight strikers Edson Barboza and Anthony Njokuani will lead off the latest “UFC Prelims Live” special, followed by a battle of 205-pounders Luis Cane and Eliot Marshall.
Finally, at 10 p.m. ET, the pay-per-view card will feature five fights, topped by a light heavyweight title bout between champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and short-notice challenger Jon Jones. Former WEC champions Urijah Faber and Eddie Wineland will square off at 135-pounds, while Dan’s lightweight brother, Jim Miller, takes on Iranian-born wrestler Kamal Shalorus. A middleweight scrap between Japanese import Yoshihiro Akiyama and former contender Nate Marquardt, and a heavyweight match pairing former Pride star Mirko Filipovic with once-beaten prospect Brendan Schaub round out the bill.
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