(Eddie Alvarez briefly turns Donald Cerrone into Karl Childers during their three-round war last month. / Photo via Getty)
As first reported by the Boston Herald, a lightweight bout between former UFC lightweight champ Benson Henderson and former Bellator lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez has been booked as the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 59: McGregor vs. Siver, January 18th at the TD Garden in Boston. And before you start complaining about how Bendo and Eddie shouldn’t be playing second bananas to a loud-mouthed Oirishmin, may I remind you that no other UFC fighter can pull off an ivory suit quite like this.
Henderson and Alvarez will both be looking to bounce back from recent defeats. Henderson is coming off his first-round knockout loss to Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night 49 in August, while Alvarez was out-pointed by Donald Cerrone in his Octagon debut at UFC 178.
The Herald is also reporting two more interesting bookings for the 1/18 card…
– Jorge Masvidal vs. Norman Parke. Masvidal has won three straight in the lightweight division, most recently taking a decision over James Krause at UFC 178. Parke — the TUF Smashes winner who’s still undefeated in the UFC — was supposed to face Diego Sanchez next month at UFC 180 but had to withdraw due to a knee injury.
– Uriah Hall vs. Costas Philippou. This is actually a rematch for the two middleweights, who previously met at Ring of Combat 34 back in February 2011, with Philippou earning a majority decision. Hall has won back to back fights against Chris Leben and Thiago Santos, while Philippou is coming off a knockout win against Lorenz Larkin.