Former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres will be returning come late-fall.
In his way will be top prospect Nick Pace. The two will clash at UFC 139, which takes place on November 19 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, where a light heavyweight match pitting PRIDE veterans Dan Henderson and Mauricio Rua will take place.
The news was originally broke by Pace via Twitter, though the east-coaster eventually withdrew a previous tweet stating “UFC 139 in Cali. Nick Pace vs Miguel Torres. #HATERS.”
The New Yorker was last seen in action when he took on the grizzly Ivan Menjivar. Both men met last August for UFC 133, where they engaged in a tooth-and-nail, back-and-forth battle that eventually went to the score cards, where Menjivar took a close decision. The loss has left Pace 1-2 under the Zuffa banner, and he is likely a prime candidate for the chopping block.
Torres, meanwhile, was recently in talks to be in line for a shot at the 135-pound title, before being derailed. The TriStar product was last seen in action against bantamweight spitfire Demetrious Johnson. “Mighty Mouse” eventually walked away with a contentious decision win, and inevitably earned the right to challenge for the promotion’s title, as he will now face champion Dominick Cruz next Saturday at UFC on Versus 6.
The loss snapped a two-fight win streak for Torres, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, which now evens his UFC record to 1-1.
A win for the former world champion will mean he still has the gusto to defeat developing talent, while a loss for Pace will likely mean the 24-year-old will be seeking employment elsewhere.
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