Nothing like fast turnarounds. Fresh off of their respective victories at UFC on FOX 9 on Dec. 14, Bobby Green and Abel Trujillo will face off in a battle on Feb. 1. The UFC announced the two explosive lightweights will meet at UFC 169, set to take place in Newark on Super Bowl weekend.
Trujillo (11-5-1) is coming off of an impressive TKO victory over Roger Bowling, in what was a rematch to their August fight that ended in a “no contest.” In the first fight, Trujillo hit Bowling with an illegal knee while Bowling was still grounded, rendering him unable to continue. Trujillo didn’t make the same mistake twice in the rematch, landing a big knee — this time to Bowling’s body — which set up the flurry to end it.
The Blackzilians fighter is now 2-1-1 in the UFC, his only loss a decision at the hands of Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 160.
As for Green, the Inland Empire fighter who has emerged as “one to watch” in the 155-pound division, he was able to defeat the stalwart Pat Healy in Sacramento via a unanimous decision. Green (22-5), who came over in the Strikeforce merging, is riding a seven-fight winning streak, and is now 3-0 in the UFC. And his path hasn’t been easy, either. He was an underdog in his UFC debut against Jacob Volkmann, but choked out the wrestler at UFC 156. He then dropped Duke Roufus’s James Krauss at UFC 160 with a wicked body shot that set up his fight with Healy.
UFC 169 takes place Feb. 1 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Here is the fight card as it stands.
Main Card
Renan Barao vs. Dominick Cruz (for bantamweight title)
Ricardo Lamas vs. Jose Aldo (for featherweight title)
Frank Mir vs. Alistair Overeem
John Makdessi vs. Alan Patrick
Chris Cariaso vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
Prelims
Al Iaquinta vs. Kevin Lee
Abel Trujillo vs. Bobby Green
Tony Martin vs. Rashid Magomedov