A lightweight matchup between UFC veterans Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout (16-6-1) and Yves “The Texas Gunslinger” Edwards (40-16-1) appears to be in the works for the upcoming UFC 131 event in Vancouver.
MMAjunkie.com reported the bout on Monday night confirming the fight with sources close to the negotiations. The Stout vs. Edwards bout is expected to take place on the preliminary card of the show.
Stout is 3-1, which includes three straight “Fight of the Night” bonuses. Stout had been scheduled to meet Paul Kelly at UFC 126 but an injury forced him off that card. The Canadian did fail to earn the bonus in his last fight but walked away with a split decision win over Paul Taylor last October at UFC 121. The three bonuses came against Jeremy Stephens at UFC 113, Joe Lauzon at UFC 108, and Matt Wiman at UFC 97.
Edwards may not have won three straight “Fight Night” bonuses but he did earn two in his last fight against “TUF 12″ competitor Cody McKenzie. Edwards won “Fight & Submission of the Night” bonus against McKenzie by earning a technical submission at the Fight for the Troops 2 event in January. That was his third straight win and sixth in seven matches. Before stopping McKenzie he earned unanimous decisions over John Gunderson at UFC Fight Night 22, and Luis Palomino at Bellator 24.
UFC 131 is set to take place in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 11 at Rogers Arena.