During Thursday’s edition of ESPN’s MMA Live, guest host Kenny Florian (14-5) made the announcement that he’d be facing Evan Dunham (11-1) next, possibly on Super Bowl Weekend which is believed to be UFC 127.
Both fighters will look to avoid a second straight loss when they meet in a lightweight bout. This fight will likely fall on the main card, or possibly a Spike TV “UFC Prelims” special.
Forian recently lost a top contender bout to Gray Maynard last August at UFC 118. Maynard was able to neutralize “Ken-Flo’s” Jiu-Jitsu with his wrestling to earn a unanimous decision. That loss ended a two fight win streak that saw Florian earn wins over Takanori Gomi at UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Gomi and Clay Guida at UFC 107. Both wins were submission wins, with the Gomi victory earning Florian the Submission of the Night honor.
Dunham is coming off the first professional loss of his career having been beaten by the “Muscle Shark” Sean Sherk at last months UFC 119. Fans at the Indianapolis stadium disagreed with the judges decision but the fight did earn Dunham a Fight of the Night honor. So far Dunham is 4-1 with the UFC having beaten Tyson Griffin, Efrain Escudero, Marcus Aurelio, and Per Eklund since joining the promotion in February of 2009.
UFC 127 is expected to take place on February 5th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bouts for the event will likely include exciting fights between Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort, Jon Jones vs Ryan Bader, and Rich Franklin vs Forrest Griffin.