A pair of welterweight bouts in Matt Brown vs. Chris Cope and Justin Edwards vs. Mike Stumpf has been lined up for UFC 143, the UFC announced Friday.
The two verbally agreed-upon bouts happens on the Feb. 4 SuperBowl weekend card in Las Vegas, headlined by Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit for the interim UFC welterweight title.
Brown (12-11) out of The Ultimate Fighter season seven has struggled the last two years, dropping four of his last five fights. In his most recent fight, Brown tapped out to a Seth Baczynski guillotine choke at UFC 139 in November. Despite the losses, Brown remains on the UFC roster for his always-game fighting style and willingness to take fights as a replacement.
Cope (5-2), who competed on TUF 13 earlier this year, won his UFC debut against Chuck O’Neil in June, but lost by TKO to Che Mills at UFC 138 in November.
Edwards (7-2), also out of TUF 13, went one for three in UFC fights in 2011. His big win came against Wanderlei Silva’s prospect Jorge Lopez at UFC Fight Night 25 in September. His last fight was a decision loss to John Maguire at UFC 138.
Stumpf (11-3) made his UFC debut in September, losing by triangle choke to T.J. Waldburger at UFC Fight Night 25. The 28-year-old fights out of Team Curran in Crystal Lake, Ill.