(Sergio Pettis, shown here with the third Pettis brother nobody ever talks about. / Photo via Sherdog)
UFC officials have confirmed that the promotion’s new undefeated bantamweight acquisition Sergio Pettis will make his Octagon debut at UFC 167: St. Pierre vs. Hendricks (November 16th, Las Vegas) against Vaughan Lee, who you may remember from such blog posts as “Why the hell is Urijah Faber fighting Vaughan Lee?” (Luckily, that wacky matchup was just a rumor.) Lee most recently lost to Raphael Assunção by submission in June, dropping his UFC record to 2-3. But he did once win a Submission of the Night bonus for armbarring Kid Yamamoto at UFC 144. That’s not nothin’.
As for Pettis, he’ll be hunting for his 10th consecutive win overall, and his fourth of 2013. The 20-year-old “Phenom” may have been a terror on the regional circuit, but those first-time Octagon jitters can be tough on anyone. In other UFC 167 news…
Before he was drafted to play the role of Foreign Bad Guy #1 opposite Tim Kennedy at UFC Fight for the Troops 3, Rafael Natal was scheduled to take on fellow middleweight Ed Herman on the “St. Pierre vs. Hendricks” prelims. Luckily, the UFC has found a replacement opponent for Herman, who will be staying on the UFC 167 card against veteran grappler Thales Leites.
Herman’s most recent appearance netted him a split-decision win against Trevor Smith at UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Moraga in July — his first win since February 2012. Leites was also victorious in his last UFC appearance, winning a unanimous decision against Tom Watson in his Octagon return at UFC 163 in August. Leites is on a four-fight win streak overall, including submission wins against Matt Horwich and Tor Troeng