A fight once planned as the co-main event for April’s UFC on Fox card is now the main event.
Heavyweights Travis Browne and Fabricio Werdum will face off in a fight to determine who will face champion Cain Velasquez when he returns from injury in late 2014. The bout was initially announced as the co-main event, but UFC sources confirmed to Bleacher Report that it was slotted in as the main event because other planned main event options fell apart before ever reaching the negotiation stages.
UFC President Dana White revealed the news during a Thursday news scrum in New York City. Bleacher Report was in attendance.
UFC on Fox 11 takes place April 19 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla. It is the second of four planned network television broadcasts for the promotion on Fox this year.
The only other bout announced for the card is a female bantamweight fight between Miesha Tate and Liz Carmouche.
Browne (16-1-2) is riding the wave of a three-fight winning streak. He last competed in December, knocking out former heavyweight champion and longtime veteran Josh Barnett with ultra-violent elbows in just one minute. The win came on the heels of a dramatic first-round knockout win over Alistair Overeem. Browne’s lone loss came at the hands of Antonio Silva; much of the blame for that loss can be placed squarely on a knee injury suffered by Browne in the opening moments of the fight, which left him unable to rely on his unique movement and speed.
Werdum (17-5-1) is riding a three-fight winning streak of his own. His last win came over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in June 2013. He is perhaps most famously known for being the first man to legitimately defeat the legendary Fedor Emelianenko. He is currently ranked as the No. 2 heavyweight in the UFC’s official rankings, behind champion Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos.
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