(The UFC’s second Toronto card is coming together nicely.)
Keeping with it’s latest trend of beating reporters to the punch when it comes to breaking news of fight bookings, the UFC announced that a pair of welterweight bouts have been added to UFC 140 on December 10 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto today, via UFC.com.
British Columbia-born wunderkind Rory “Ares” MacDonald (12-1) will take on “Hairrow” stylist and cartwheel-kick aficionado Brian “The White Anderson Silva” Ebersole (48-14-1, 1 NC) on the card, while former CagePotato TUF 11 guest blogger Rich “The Raging Bull” Attonito (10-4) will see action against durable Toronto-based fighter Claude “The Prince” Patrick (14-1).
3-1 in four UFC bouts, MacDonald continued to impress in his last outing, defeating seasoned veteran Mike Pyle by TKO at 3:54 of the opening frame at UFC 133 in August. He also holds Octagon wins over Nate Diaz at UFC 129 and Mike Guymon at UFN 20 and a heartbreaking loss to current welterweight contender Carlos Condit in the final seconds of their UFC 115 bout.
A veteran of 64 professional bouts, Ebersole will be a tough test for MacDonald, but he may have already made a slight error in judgment that may work in the favor of his opponent, who was formerly known as “The Waterboy” for his penchant for using anger to propel him to perform better in the cage. In an interview he did with MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani following his UFC win over Dennis Hallman, “TWAS” was asked if he was interested in fighting MacDonald who had dispatched of Pyle earlier in the night, to which Ebersole replied that the fight “didn’t interest him.”
“After UFC 127 I kind of asked for Dennis Hallman or Matt Serra because they’re veterans [who have] big records — kind of like Chris Lytle — they bring out that samurai spirit in me and I know it would be a good battle of not just athleticism, but kind of like a chess match. I saw Matt Serra here tonight; he’s looking a bit out of shape. I don’t know if he’s retired or what his story is, but if he’s still competing I guess he’s kind of the one guy before he retires I would like to compete against him,” Ebersole explained. “There’s a couple of older guys — I know Renzo [Gracie] just got a contract. I don’t know if the UFC would give me Renzo, but right now I know I’m not in line for a title shot and I’m not looking at the top guys so I would like to fight guys that really interest me and those are the veterans. Those are the guys that have stories that I’ve watched as a fan in this sport. I don’t want to fight the Rory MacDonald who’s 21 years old and [has] two or three fights. I don’t know anything about the kid. That doesn’t excite me.”
Patrick and Attonito, meanwhile, have unanimous decision wins over a common opponent, Daniel Roberts in their last respective bouts and will both be looking to climb the ladder with a win over the other.
Although it hasn’t been announced yet, a featherweight bout between former number one contender Mark “The Machine” Hominick and “The Korean Zombie” Jung Chan-Sung is also rumored to be in the works for the card, as is a lightweight bout between John Cholish and Canadian UFC newcomer Mitch Clarke.