Former season 10 “The Ultimate Fighter” participant James McSweeney (4-5) will be dropping to the light-heavyweight division for his next fight in the UFC. His opponent for that next fight will be fellow Brit Tom Blackledge (10-6), with both men meeting at UFC 120 in England.
McSweeney weighed in at 231 in his last fight as part of the preliminary card for the “TUF 11″ Finale, a fight in which he lost via TKO in the first round to Travis Browne. Dropping to 205 won’t be that hard of a stretch and will hopefully prove better for the former kickboxer and Muay Thai fighter. He made the announcement on Sunday via his Twitter page.
The former “TUF 10″ fighter will feel the pressure of performing in his fight with Blackledge with a 1-1 record under the UFC banner. McSweeney defeated fellow housemate Darrill Schoonover at the shows Finale to win his UFC debut.
Blackledge trains at the Wolfslair MMA Academy in Liverpool, England and will be making his UFC debut against McSweeney. He’s taken his last two fights under the M-1 Global banner, defeating both opponents in the first round. Both fights took place last year and his UFC debut will mark his first bout of 2010.
UFC 120 is set to take place on Oct. 16 at the O2 arena in England and Spike TV will broadcast the main card in North America for free via tape delay.