Photo via UFC.com
The Ultimate Fighting Championship will return to the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia on May 15, 2012 with a recently announced UFC on FX 3 event.
The first bout named for the Fairfax show will be a middleweight bout between ‘Filthy’ Tom Lawlor (7-4, 1NC) and Canadian fighter Jason ‘The Athlete’ MacDonald (25-15).
News of the bout was announced by Canadian UFC officials on Twitter (@UFC_CA) on Wednesday night.
– The Athlete @jaymac185 returns to the Octagon May 15 in Fairfax, VA when he faces @FilthyTomLawlor #UFC
Lawlor is just 1-3 in his last four appearances, putting him in a tight spot if he wishes to keep his job with the UFC. He last stepped into the Octagon in November at UFC 139, where he was choked out by UFC on FOX 2 fighter Chris Weidman via d’arce choke. ‘Filthy’ scored his last win by earning a unanimous over Patrick Cote at UFC 121 in October 2010. Between the two events he had bouts at UFC 134 and at UFC on Versus 5 cancelled on him for various reasons.
MacDonald is likely in the same boat as Lawlor, going 1-2 in his last three Octagon appearances. His last fight took place in September at UFN 25 in New Orleans and saw ‘The Athlete’ lose to Alan Belcher via submission (punches). Before the loss, MacDonald appeared at the stadium show in Toronto at UFC 129 submitting Ryan Jensen with a triangle choke.
I have always enjoyed Lawlor’s weigh-in antics, as well as his fight entrances so I’m really hoping he can keep his job with the UFC. MacDonald is a dangerous submission fighter that will put ‘Filthy’ in a lot of trouble should he get him to the ground. I guess we’ll find out how good Lawlor is at stuffing the takedown in Virginia this May.