South Florida will host an entertaining fight between two of the more colorful heavyweights on the roster as “Huggy Bear” and “The Vanilla Gorilla” clash.
UFC 287, which will take place inside Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Fla., on April 8, 2023, is already looking stacked … and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) apparently isn’t done adding fun fights to is upcoming pay-per-view (PPV) blockbuster.
Just added to the card: a Heavyweight clash between two colorful personalities: “Huggy Bear” Chris Barnett and “The Vanilla Gorilla” Chase Sherman. Neither fighter is currently ranked in their division, but both bring the action in the cage, win or lose.
Barnett is 2-2 since his UFC arrival in 2021, with his last fight being an exciting second round technical knockout of Jake Collier (watch highlights). “Huggy Bear” pulled off a come-from-behind win to stop his opponent with ground-and-pound. He then followed that up with his trademark flip celebration and then chugged beers all the way back to his dressing room.
Who has more fun than @BeastBoy61? pic.twitter.com/uP5783zB1I
— UFC (@ufc) September 11, 2022
FINISH AND FLIP FOR BARNETT
Stream #UFC279 tonight on @ESPNPlus ?? https://t.co/8b7bwVGe8n pic.twitter.com/Ip82xUfcXG
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 11, 2022
Sherman, meanwhile, has struggled to earn wins in UFC, going 2-5 in his second run with the promotion. His sole win in his past six fights was a third round technical knockout of Jared Vanderaa, but what a finish that was (watch it) … Sherman earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award.
While this fight may not have much impact on the Heavyweight division, it’s almost guaranteed to be a fun scrap, and “Huggy Bear” always brings the party (if you can’t get Tai Tuivasa, call Chris Barnett).
Also on deck at UFC 287: the highly anticipated Middleweight title rematch between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya, as well as a Welterweight showdown between Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal. Young phenom Raul Rosas Jr. is also on the card, fighting Christian Rodriguez, and Kevin Holland will return against Santiago Ponzinibbio in an absolute banger of a Welterweight bout.
In short, UFC 287 is a must-watch event.
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