Less than three months after being knocked out by Travis Browne’s vicious elbows, Gabriel Gonzaga will jump into the mix at UFC 162 in Las Vegas, Nev.
Gonzaga will be stepping in for the injured Shane Del Rosario and face Dave Herman. The matchup was confirmed via the UFC Twitter feed:
Herman, now 1-3 within the UFC, is desperately looking for a win. “Pee-Wee” has been finished in three straight fights and hasn’t won since June of 2011. That win was against a guy named John-Olav Einemo, who has since retired from fighting and ended his UFC career with an 0-2 record.
Gonzaga has been fighting in the UFC for what seems like forever. This fight against Herman will mark the 16th time he has competed for the organization. Over his previous 15 UFC fights, Gonzaga has compiled a record of 9-6 and has won two of his last three.
Gonzaga’s signature win is still the knockout kick to the head of Mirko “Cro Cop” he landed at UFC 70 over six years ago. Although he has won two of his last three in the UFC, he has suffered defeat in three of his last five overall inside the Octagon.
With Gonzaga replacing Del Rosario, Herman won’t have to alter is strategy much as both Del Rosario and Gonzaga love to transition between kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
The fight is expected to be the first fight on the FX portion of the preliminary fights. Other notable fighters on the FX portion of the card include Mark Munoz, Tim Boetsch, Chris Leben and Edson Barboza.
UFC 162 takes place on Saturday, July 6, 2013.
Joe Chacon is a Contributor to Bleacher Report and can be followed on Twitter @JoeChacon.
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