News of a welterweight matchup between former No. 1 contender Jon Fitch (23-3-1, 1NC) and Johny Hendricks (11-1) surfaced on Monday, with ESPN reporting that both fighters had verbally agreed to meet at UFC 141 in December.
UFC 141 is expected to take place on December 30 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is expected to feature a No. 1 heavyweight contender bout between former champ, Brock Lesnar, and former Strikeforce title holder, Alistair ‘The Reem’ Overeem.
Fitch had his last fight in February, battling former two-division champion B.J. Penn to a majority draw at UFC 127. Both fighters had been rescheduled to meet at UFC 132 but both men withdrew from the event due to injury. Fitch underweight shoulder surgery and has been rehabbing the injury for months now. Fitch had been asking for bouts with Penn after the Nick Diaz fiasco, or to compete at UFC 139 in San Jose, but wasn’t green lit to compete until now.
Hendricks is 2-1 in his last three fights, having last competed in August at UFC 133 where he earned a split decision over Mike Pierce at the Philadelphia show. That was his second bout of 2011 which saw him stop TJ Waldburger by TKO in March at UFC Fight Night 24. With the UFC, Hendricks is 6-1 having also earned wins ovr the likes of Amir Sadollah, TJ Grant and Charlie Brenneman.