A pair of middleweights appear all but set to clash at the upcoming UFC 144 event in Japan, as former DEEP champion Riki ‘Killer Bee’ Fukuda (17-5) and Steve ‘The Cure’ Cantwell (7-5) have agreed to meet at the February event.
News of the matchup was reported by MMAWeeklky.com, who stated that verbal agreements were in place after speaking to sources close to the bout.
UFC 144 is expected to take place on February 26th at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan with a UFC lightweight title bout between champ Frankie Edgar vs. former WEC champ Ben Henderson set as the headliner.
Fukuda debuted with the UFC last February in Australia against Canadian fighter Nick Ring. Fukuda would lose the bout by unanimous decision, ending a seven fight win streak which saw the Japanese fighter capture, and defend, the DEEP middleweight championship. Fukuda had been expected to face Rafael Natal last August at UFC 133 but was forced out due to a knee injury sustained in a car accident.
Cantwell is likely on his last leg with the UFC having dropped four straight bouts in the Octagon. After three losses as a light heavyweight, the former WEC champ dropped to middleweight in his last fight. He made his 185 lbs debut against Mike Massenzio at UFC 136, losing that fight by unanimous decision. The previous three losses came at the hands of Cyrille Diabate, Brian Stann and Luiz Cane, all were losses by unanimous decision.