(Be patient, this will make sense soon. / Image via @UrijahFaber)
In a booking that Bjorn Rebney might describe as a “weird, funky, freaky kind of Cirque du Soleil-esque type of fight,” #1-ranked bantamweight contender Urijah Faber will fight #13-ranked Alex “Bruce Leroy” Caceres at UFC 175: Weidman vs. Machida, July 5th in Las Vegas. The UFC announced the matchup yesterday.
The pairing came about after a fan suggested it to Caceres on twitter, Caceres said he was down, and then Faber responded two weeks later with the photoshop you see above, accompanied by the phrase “Sho Nuf!!” Seriously, that’s all it took for the UFC matchmakers to greenlight this one.
Look, I get it: Joe Silva and Sean Shelby are barely keeping their heads above water these days. Plus, after Faber lost his sixth-consecutive title bout in February — against Renan Barao at UFC 169 — he has officially entered the “just gimme some fun fights” stage of his career, and if nothing else, The California Kid vs. Bruce Leroy is a fun fight. I think. Right? And who knows, maybe Caceres will surprise us by rising to the occasion. After exposing Sergio Pettis in January, the TUF 12 vet proved that he’s not to be taken lightly.
More importantly, the UFC gets to add one of its biggest sub-155 stars to a pay-per-view that is already their most stacked card of the year by a wide margin. Mark your calendars for July 5th, and check out the current UFC 175 lineup after the jump…
Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida
Ronda Rousey vs. Alexis Davis
Wanderlei Silva vs. Chael Sonnen
Alex Caceres vs. Urijah Faber
Matt Mitrione vs. Stefan Struve
Uriah Hall vs. Thiago “Marreta” Santos
Chris Camozzi vs. Bruno Santos
Guilherme Vasconcelos vs. Luke Zachrich
Ildemar Alcantara vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio