Roland Delorme – image via UFC.com
Former TUF 14 cast member Roland Delorme (8-1) is set to welcome former DREAM bantamweight champ Bibano Fernandes (11-3) to the UFC this summer in Calgary at UFC 149.
The bout was made official on Monday but Delorme was offered the fight a week-and-a-half ago and jumped at the chance to fight in front of his fellow Canadians.
UFC 149 is scheduled to take place on July 21, 2012 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta.
Delorme admits that is is a big step up in competition for him, but in his words, he’s already fought and beaten opponents no one expected him to defeat in the past. Now he’ll get the chance to welcome one of the World’s top 135-lbs fighters to the Octagon and fans will see if he can continue to prove the doubters wrong.
Speaking to theScore.com, Delorme talked about the fight:
“The guy’s real good. He’s fought top competition all over the world and it’s just an honour to fight him. It’s a step up in competition for me, but I’ve made a name beating guys people didn’t think I should beat, so I don’t see why I should stop now …”
“It’s huge to fight in Calgary. I told them after my last fight I wanted to fight in Calgary, that I’d fight anybody as long as they got me on that card. They said they’d try but there’s no guarantees. I kept my fingers crossed but I wasn’t counting on it, that’s for sure. But then they gave me a call to fight Bibiano a week-and-a-half ago and I jumped all over it. I don’t get too many opportunities to fight in Canada, especially in the UFC. I haven’t done it yet. It’s my first time. I’m just excited to go out there and fight in front of the Canadian fans …”
“Expect a war. Expect the same thing every time I go in there, a war,” he said. “One thing that I do, and that I do well, is that I come to fight. I fight as hard as I can.”
Delorme was last in action in New Jersey at the UFC on FOX 4 event where he stopped fellow Canadian Nick Denis via first round submission. It was Delorme’s second straight win in the UFC after submitting Josh Ferguson at the TUF 14 Finale last December.