A middleweight bout between Kendall “The Spyder” Grove (12-8, 1NC) and Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch (12-4) is in the works for the upcoming UFC 130 in May
MMAMania.com reported the bout on Monday, learning of the match from sources close to the fight. It appears that both men will meet on the preliminary card of the pay-per-view event.
UFC 130: Edgar vs. Maynard III will take place on May 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and will feature a lightweight title rematch between champ Frankie Edgar vs. challenger Gray Maynard.
Grove, winner of “The Ultimate Fighter 3″ middleweight contract back in 2006, has gone 7-5 overall with the promotion and enters the bout with Boetsch on a loss. Grove has been trading wins for losses over his past six matches, losing a unanimous decision against Demian Maia last December at the “TUF 12 Finale.” He won a split decision in the match before, defeating Goran Reljic at UFC 116.
Boetsch makes the move to middleweight from the 205 pound division, where he’s gone 3-3 with the UFC promotion. “The Barbarian” has split his time with the UFC fighting four times between February 2008 and March of 2009. He then won three straight with various West Coast promotions, earning his way back into the UFC. Once back he earned a unanimous decision over Todd Brown at UFC 117, and saw his win streak stopped by Phil Davis at UFC 123 after “Mr Wonderful” locked in a Kimura lock in the second round.