The Ultimate Fighting Championship announced it’s first bout for the promotions upcoming UFC 133 event in August. A middleweight fight between Jorge “El Conquistador” Rivera (19-8) and Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara (15-8, 1NC) has been scheduled again for a third time between the two fighters.
UFC president Dana White said today “Better late than never, verbal agreements are in for what should be an action-packed match between Alessio Sakara and Jorge Rivera at UFC 133.”
Both men were first scheduled to meet at UFC 118 last August, but Rivera withdrew due to injury and Rivera was given a new opponent. Before that fight could happen, “Legionarius” injured himself and was forced to withdraw also. The middleweights were then rescheduled to fight at UFC 122 in November, but Sakara came down with severe flu-like symptoms on fight day, and the entire rematch was scrapped.
Now both men will attempt to meet for a third time at the upcoming UFC 133 event, which has yet to be officially announced. The event is expected to take place on August 6 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Rivera enters the match on a loss after all of the controversy with Brit Michael Bisping at UFC 127. “The Count” earned a second round TKO win, after landing an illegal knee to the head of a downed opponent in the first round, and would then go on to verbally attack Rivera, as well as spit towards his opponents corner after the fight. The loss ended a three fight win streak for “El Conquistador”, who is making his fourth run with the UFC, sporting a 7-6 record with the promotion.
Sakara also enters the fight on a loss, having dropped a unanimous decision to Chris Weidman at UFC on Verus 3 last month. Weidman took the bout on short notice after Rafael Natal withdrew due to injury. Before that loss, Sakara had won three in a row which included victories over James Irvin, Thales Leites, and Joe Vedepo. Overall, “Legionarius” is 6-5 with 1 ‘No Contest’ fighting in the UFC.