Joey Beltran debuted with the UFC in February 2010, earning a TKO victory over Rolles Gracie in that bout. He would compete in six more contests in the UFC’s heavyweight division, putting up a UFC record of 3-4 and earning a reputation as one of the toughest fighters in the division before being released in January of this year. Upon his release he dropped to light heavyweight, defeating Anton Talamantes in his debut at 205 pounds.
The slimmed-down Beltran will get a second chance in the UFC, as he has received the call to replace Brandon Vera on the UFC on Fuel TV 4 fight card. Vera had been slated to face James Te Huna on the July 11 card, but an injury to Thiago Silva resulted in Vera being grabbed to fight Silva’s scheduled opponent, former light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
I won’t bore you with all the details and back story on how the Rua versus Silva fight—which was scheduled to take place at UFC 149—turned into Rua versus Vera in the main event of UFC on FOX 4; just be aware that it did, and when it moved, it left Te Huna without an opponent until today.
Te Huna will enter the fight with an overall record of 14-5 and a UFC record of 3-1. Te Huna has yet to go the distance in any of his UFC bouts, with his third-round TKO win over Igor Pokrajac at UFC 110 being the longest bout on his UFC dance card. Of his other three UFC bouts, none have left the first round. In fact, of his 19 professional fights, only one has gone the distance—a 2008 unanimous decision win over Sam Brown.
Beltran has two more career fights than Te Huna, putting together a 14-7 record, with 11 of those wins coming by knockout, one by submission and two via decision. When Beltran does go the distance, he is usually on the losing end, as five of his seven defeats have come via decision.
UFC on Fuel TV 4 is scheduled to take place at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
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