Ben Saunders Welcomes Chris “Stump” Heatherly to the Octagon For UFC Return at Fight Night 49


(Best caption by the end of the day wins a T-shirt. Via Saunders’ Twitter.)

Less than a week ago, Ben Saunders was universally declared by one CagePotato writer with a history of making hyperbolic statements to be one of the greatest UFC washouts still competing on the professional circuit. Two days later, it was announced that “Killa B” had re-signed with the UFC. Coincidence? No, no it is not. The UFC has been blatantly using us to play matchmaker for years now and I demand satisfaction.

In any case, Saunders has received a date and opponent for his UFC return earlier today, and you’re never going to guess who it is, probably because you have never heard of his opponent before. The TUF 6 alum will welcome 8-1 Chris “Stump” Heatherly to the octagon at Fight Night 49 on August 23rd (that’s the one headlined by Ben Henderson vs. Rafael Dos Anjos, BTW).

The fight will mark Saunders first UFC contest in over four years, where he was last outgrappled by Dennis Hallman in a unanimous decision loss at UFC 117. While “Killa B” might be on the heels of a head kick knockout loss to Douglas Lima (his second such loss to Lima in as many fights), he has gone 4-2 in Bellator since 2012 and 7-3 overall.

Heatherly, on the other hand, holds notable wins over Dakota Cochrane (heh) and no one else, and last scored a victory via second round guillotine over Josh Cavan at RFA 16 (you can check out a video of the finish here). Prior to that, he was stretchered out of the cage after eating an illegal elbow to the spine in his RFA debut against Chidi Njokuani. Thankfully for Heatherly, he will only have to worry about protecting his forehead against Saunders.

So…Saunders by submission or KO?

J. Jones


(Best caption by the end of the day wins a T-shirt. Via Saunders’ Twitter.)

Less than a week ago, Ben Saunders was universally declared by one CagePotato writer with a history of making hyperbolic statements to be one of the greatest UFC washouts still competing on the professional circuit. Two days later, it was announced that “Killa B” had re-signed with the UFC. Coincidence? No, no it is not. The UFC has been blatantly using us to play matchmaker for years now and I demand satisfaction.

In any case, Saunders has received a date and opponent for his UFC return earlier today, and you’re never going to guess who it is, probably because you have never heard of his opponent before. The TUF 6 alum will welcome 8-1 Chris “Stump” Heatherly to the octagon at Fight Night 49 on August 23rd (that’s the one headlined by Ben Henderson vs. Rafael Dos Anjos, BTW).

The fight will mark Saunders first UFC contest in over four years, where he was last outgrappled by Dennis Hallman in a unanimous decision loss at UFC 117. While “Killa B” might be on the heels of a head kick knockout loss to Douglas Lima (his second such loss to Lima in as many fights), he has gone 4-2 in Bellator since 2012 and 7-3 overall.

Heatherly, on the other hand, holds notable wins over Dakota Cochrane (heh) and no one else, and last scored a victory via second round guillotine over Josh Cavan at RFA 16 (you can check out a video of the finish here). Prior to that, he was stretchered out of the cage after eating an illegal elbow to the spine in his RFA debut against Chidi Njokuani. Thankfully for Heatherly, he will only have to worry about protecting his forehead against Saunders.

So…Saunders by submission or KO?

J. Jones