Undefeated knockout artist Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje will be coming home to defend his Lightweight belt against Brian Foster at World Series of Fighting (WSOF) 29.
Gaethje, an alumnus of the University of Northern Colorado, will fight inside the Bank of Colorado Arena on the university’s Greeley campus on March 12, 2016, live on NBCSN with fights airing at 9 p.m. ET.
Gaethje will take on Foster, who earned his way to the top of the promotion’s lightweight tournament in peculiar fashion. Foster was defeated by slick submission specialist Joao Zeferino during their quarterfinal fight on Nov. 20, 2015. But, an injury to Mike Ricci put him back in the mix of things, allowing him the chance to defeat Luis Palomino.
Later that evening he faced Zeferino in the rematch, winning via knockout in Round 2.
Foster is an interesting comeback story for mixed martial arts (MMA) fans. A former UFC fighter whose last win in that promotion came over Matt Brown, Foster was expected to face Sean Pierson on April 30, 2011 at UFC 129.
However, Foster was forced out of the bout after a pre-fight physical showed that he had suffered a brain hemorrhage, requiring brain surgery. He followed that up with a disastrous groin strike sustained during training that burst one of his testicles.
Despite being on a two-fight win streak, UFC had enough of Foster pulling out of fights and cut him, citing health issues.
Now 31, Foster is 25-8 and looks to claim his first Lightweight belt in any promotion.
He has a hell of a job before him though. Gaethje is 15-0 with 12 knockouts with wins over ex-UFCers like Melvin Guillard, Dan Lauzon and Drew Fickett.