‘The Hippo’ will take on ‘The Snake’ this November when two UFC light heavyweight fighters meet in the Octagon as part of UFC 138: Leben vs. Munoz.
Australian fighter Anthony ‘The Hippo’ Perosh (11-6) will take on French striker Cyrille ‘The Snake’ Diabaté (17-7-1), all according to Diabaté who posted the news via Twitter site (@CyrilleDiabate) on Thursday.
– training for my upcoming UFC fight @ UFC 138. Anthony Perosh vs Cyrille Diabate. Grappler vs Striker. Classic !!!
UFC 138: Leben vs. Munoz is scheduled to take place on November 5 at the LG Arena in Birmingham, England. The event will feature the first five-round main event non-title bout in the organizations history, pitting middleweights Chris Leben against Mark Munoz.
This bout marks Perosh’s second match at light heavyweight after three losses in two stints with the UFC, fighting at heavyweight. ‘The Hippo’ won his 205 lb debut last February at the UFC 127 Sydney event, stopping Tom Blackledge by first round submission. The Australian’s previous fight, stepping in as a late replacement for Ben Rothwell, was a second round TKO loss to Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic at UFC 110.
Diabaté was last in action in March, winning a unanimous decision against Steve Cantwell at the UFC on Versus 4 event. The victory erased a submission loss to Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 120, a defeat which ended a six fight win streak for ‘The Snake’. The French fighter debuted with the UFC at UFC 114, earning a first round TKO win over Luiz Cane.