Joey Beltran
Former heavyweight, Joey ‘The Mexicutioner’ Beltran (14-7), is set to make his UFC return after moving down to light heavyweight following his dismissal from the promotion early this year. Beltran is set to face Kiwi fighter James Te-Huna (14-5) at the upcoming UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman event, replacing Brandon Vera who moves up to face Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua on the FOX card.
The UFC made Beltran’s return official, announcing the bout at UFC.com earlier this evening.
Capitalizing on the chaos and stepping in to meet Te Huna is UFC veteran Joey Beltran, a teammate of Vera at Alliance MMA. After his heavyweight stint in the UFC, “The Mexicutioner” found success at light heavyweight and will return to face fellow slugger Te Huna in what promises to be a crowd-pleasing battle.
UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman is expected to take place on July 11, 2012 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
Beltran was released by the UFC following his loss to Lavar Johnson last January at UFC on FOX 2. It was the first knockout loss of ‘The Mexicutioner’s’ career and his second straight defeat having gone 1-4 before his dismissal. Beltran opted to drop down to light heavyweight, making his debut at 205-lbs in April at a local C3 Fights show in Oklahoma where he earned a unanimous decision victory versus Anton Talamante.
Te-Huna has a month to prepare for a new opponent after his bout with Vera was scrapped. The New Zealand born fighter has won two in a rown and is 3-1 since joining the UFC back in February 2010. Most recently he earned a first round TKO finish over Aaron Rosa in Australia at the UFC on FX 2 show in March. Te-Huna’s previous victory was a quick 47-second knockout of Ricardo Romero in Colorado at UFC 135.