A lightweight matchup between Canadian fighter Sam Stout (16-6-1) and English fighter Paul Kelly (11-3) surfaced on Wednesday.
Fighters Only Magazine received news of the bout, noting that both fighters have made verbal agreements for the fight, which will likely take place on the preliminary card of UFC 126 in February.
Stout bounced back from a loss in May to defeat another Brit, Paul Taylor, at UFC 121 in October by split decision. The Canadian had earned three straight “Fight of the Night” honors before his victory over Taylor. That span included a split decision loss to Jeremy Stephens, unanimous decision wins over Joe Lauzon at UFC 108, and Matt Wiman at UFC 97. Stout’s record with the UFC is 5-5 so far.
Kelly has been trading wins and losses over his last five fights, going 3-2 with an overall UFC record of 5-3. He last appeared against T.J. O’Brien at last weekends UFC 123 event, earning a second round TKO win. In 2010, Kelly would also drop a unanimous decision to Jacob Volkmann at the UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko event, and win a submission victory over Matt Veach at UFC 112 in April.
UFC 126 is expected to take place on February 5th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.