Unlike the five UFC on FOX events before it, UFC on FOX 10 on Jan. 25 won’t be headlined by a title fight.
But the fighters atop the bill at Chicago’s United Center knows what it’s like to wear the gold.
Former UFC and WEC lightweight champion Benson Henderson meets former Strikeforce champ Josh Thomson in the five-round main event.
For Henderson (19-3), this marks his first bout since Anthony Pettis submitted him in the first round of their UFC 164 bout to take his title in August. Henderson had a seven-fight win streak ended in his title loss. He’s won his past 17 fights against fighters other than Pettis, to whom he’s twice lost.
Thomson (21-5), meanwhile, was scheduled to challenge Pettis for the title at the upcoming UFC on FOX 9 event in Sacramento, but Pettis’ knee injury put title hopes aside. The American Kickboxing Academy fighter made an emphatic return to the UFC in April, when he knocked out Nate Diaz at UFC on FOX 7.
Meanwhile, the UFC also officially announced three other bouts for the main card in Chicago. In the co-main event, veteran heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga (16-7), winner of back-to-back first-round knockouts, squares off against rising star Stipe Miocic (10-1); Donald Cerrone (21-6), fresh of his UFC 167 finish of Evan Dunham, meets Brazilian Adriano Martins (25-6) at lightweight, and Indiana’s Darren Elkins (17-3) squares off with Jeremy Stephens (22-9) in an intriguing featherweight bout.
The last UFC on FOX event headlined by a non-title fight was UFC on FOX 4 in Los Angeles, in which Mauricio “Shogun” Rua finished Brandon Vera in four rounds.