It looks like ‘The Spaniard’ will take on the ‘Ninja’ in January at the upcoming UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller event in Tennessee.
UFC welterweights Charlie ‘The Spaniard’ Brenneman (14-3) and Daniel ‘Ninja’ Roberts (12-3) are reportedly set to meet according to reporter Ariel Helwani for NBCSports.com, who learned of the matchup via sources close to the event.
UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller (aka UFC on FX 1 & UFC Fight Night 26) is set to take place on January 20th at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. No details on whether the Brenneman vs. Roberts bout will air on FX or via the web.
Brenneman is coming off a disappointing loss to Anthony Johnson at UFC on Versus 6 last October, suffering a first round TKO loss. The defeat ended a two fight win streak which included a strong showing over Rick Story at UFC on Versus 4, where ‘The Spaniard’ replaced Nate Marquardt at the event weigh-ins and then went on to earn a unanimous decision against ‘Horror’. The other win in that stretch was another decision victory, defeating Amilcar Alves at the Fight for the Troops 2 show.
Roberts finds himself in a corner having suffered two straight unanimous decision defeats. The Cesar Gracie fighter dropped his last fight in June at the UFC on Versus 4 show to Rich Attonito, and lost the other match to Claude Patrick at UFC 129 last April. The last victory in the Octagon for ‘Ninja’ came on January 1st at UFC 125 when he submitted Greg Soto at UFC 125.
This bout pits sees another matchup of styles as Brenneman will pit his wrestling against Roberts Jiu-Jitsu submission skills. I expect to see ‘The Spaniard’ keep this fight standing, utilizing his wrestling to keep out of ‘Ninja’s’ takedowns, leaving Roberts without much of a choice but to slug it out. Brenneman by decision.