Constantinos Philippou
A middleweight bout between Greek Cypriot striker Constantinos Philippou (10-2, 1NC) and Japanese fighter ‘Killer Bee’ Riki Fukuda (18-5) appears set with verbal agreements between the two for July’s upcoming UFC 148 event.
The bout was made official on Wednesday by the promotion in an announcement made at UFC.com.
Plus, heavy-hitting middleweights Riki Fukuda and Costa Philippou will clash. The Japanese Fukuda scored a decision win last month at UFC 144; Cyprus-born, Long-Island based Philippou accomplished the same a week later at UFC on FX.
UFC 148 is expected to take place on July 7, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fans can expect to see the Philippou vs. Fukuda match take on the nights prelim card, possibly headlining the television portion of the show.
Philippou has won three straight since losing his UFC debut one year ago, losing a decision to Nick Catone in a 195-lbs catchweight bout at UFC 128. Since then, Philippou has gone on to earn a split decision against Jorge Rivera, a knockout victory against Jared Hamman at UFC 140, and a decision against Court McGee at UFC on FX 2.
Fukuda is 1-1 in the UFC, earning his first Octagon victory last month at UFC 144 by defeating Steve Cantwell by unanimous decision. The loss came against Nick Ring at UFC 127 last year ending a seven fight win streak for the former DEEP middleweight champ. ‘Killer Bee’ had been scheduled to face Rafael Natal at UFC 133 last August but an injury forced him out.