Verbal agreements are in place for a UFC 140 encounter between Rory MacDonald and Brian Ebersole on the Dec. 10 Toronto card, UFC president Dana White recently revealed.
Having fought on the UFC’s first card in Ontario at UFC 129 this past April, British Columbia’s MacDonald (12-1) will compete in his home country while shooting for his third consecutive win. The 22-year-old standout bounced back from a tough loss to Carlos Condit last year by putting in dominant efforts this year against Nick Diaz and Mike Pyle.
It took nearly 11 years for Ebersole (48-14-1) to finally receive the chance to step inside the UFC cage, but he’s made the most of every moment with wins over Chris Lytle and Dennis Hallman at UFC 127 and UFC 133, respectively. He’s also taken the spotlight in these fights for his up-arrow chest hair and most recently, a $70,000 bonus for as White put it, “getting [Hallman’s] horrifying shots off TV” award.
With UFC 140 still three months away and plenty of cards in between, the only bouts leaked so far for the card are Rich Attonito vs. Claude Patrick and John Cholish vs. Mitch Clarke. No main event has been announced.
UFC 140, happening a week after the TUF 14 Finale and three weeks before the Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem showdown, will take place at the Air Canada Centre.