A lightweight contender’s matchup between standout striker Edson Barboza (10-0) and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Evan Dunham (13-2) is set to take place at UFC 146 in May, according to a recent tweet by UFC president Dana White:
For the UFC 146 card May 26th in Vegas we just signed Edson Barboza vs Evan Dunham!!
The card, which is set to be headlined by UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem, has only had three official bouts announced, and Dunham vs. Barboza is likely to go down as one of the featured bouts on the pay-per-view.
Barboza enters the fight with a perfect 10-0 record, including victories over Terry Etim, Ross Pearson, Anthony Njokuani and Mike Lullo. His wheel-kick knockout of Etim from UFC 142 is the top candidate for 2012’s knockout of the year.
Dunham rebounded from two back-to-back losses to defeat Shamar Bailey and Nik Lentz. His split-decision loss to Sherk was one of the more controversial decisions of 2010. Other UFC wins include those over Tyson Griffin, Marcus Aurelio and Efrain Escudero.
With other lightweight matchups like Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller and Joe Lauzon vs. Anthony Pettis set to go down at future events, the winner of this fight could be very close to finding themselves in a top contender’s bout.
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