(Philippou puts a shocking end to the Barbarian Era at UFC 155. / Photo by Esther Lin for MMAFighting.com)
Inactive since his TKO win over Tim Boetsch in December, UFC middleweight contender Costa Philippou has been lobbying for a fight…any fight. And while he previously tried calling out Michael Bisping like everybody else, the UFC has different plans for him. UFC Canada confirmed today that Philippou will make his return at UFC 165: Jones vs. Gustafsson (September 21st, Toronto), where he’ll face streaking Tristar Gym product Francis Carmont.
This is probably the greatest possible matchup involving two middleweights that you rarely think about. Quietly, both fighters have amassed five-fight win streaks in the Octagon dating back to 2011, with Philippou most notably defeating Boetsch, Court McGee, and Jorge Rivera, and Carmont scoring recent wins against Tom Lawlor and Lorenz Larkin. One of these guys is going to make it six in a row, and the other is going back to square one — a truly horrible place, indeed.
Shoot us your thoughts about this matchup in the comments section, and check out the current UFC 165 fight lineup after the jump…
MAIN CARD
Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson
Renan Barao vs. Eddie Wineland
Matt Mitrione vs. Brendan Schaub
Pat Healy vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Francis Carmont vs. Constantinos Philippou
PRELIMINARY CARD
Myles Jury vs. Mike Ricci
Ivan Menjivar vs. Norifumi Yamamoto
Chris Clements vs. Stephen Thompson
Mitch Gagnon vs. Dustin Kimura
Renee Forte vs. John Makdessi
Mark Bocek vs. Michel Prazeres
Nandor Guelmino vs. Daniel Omielanczuk