I don’t like it, but I’ll do it.
That seemed to be the thinking of Brendan Schaub and Matt Mitrione when the UFC matchmakers asked if they would be interested in fighting each other on the UFC on Fox 8 fight card.
The reason the two heavyweights, who became friendly during filming for season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter, needed to say yes to the fight was simple: They’re both coming off of wins, and they’re both outside the top 10 in the division. The fight made sense to the UFC, and it made sense to the fighters, so it was booked.
Unfortunately, a training camp injury suffered by Mitrione caused the bout to be removed from the July 27 Fox card.
According to Dave Deibert of the Star Phoenix, the fight has been moved to the September 21 UFC 165 fight card from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
Oh, and that pesky friendship thing? Yeah that seems like it’ll no longer be a concern after a Twitter fallout between the fighters ended with Mitrione calling Schaub “Benedict Arnold.”
Mitrione (6-2) enters the fight coming off a 19-second knockout victory over Phil De Fries at UFC on Fuel TV 9. More recently, though, he is remembered as the fighter who was suspended and fined by the UFC for transphobic comments he made about transgender fighter Fallon Fox.
Meanwhile, Schaub (9-3) is coming off a unanimous-decision victory over Lavar Johnson at UFC 157.
The victories ended two-fight losing streaks for both fighters.
A UFC light heavyweight title fight will be the main event at UFC 165. Champion Jon Jones will put his title on the line against No. 2 ranked Alexander Gustafsson.
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