Chad Mendes not waiting for title shot against Jose Aldo. Will face Rani Yahya at UFC 134. Joseph Benavidez vs. Eddie Wineland set for UFC on Versus 5. Dana White says neither Jon Jones vs..
Chad Mendes not waiting for title shot against Jose Aldo. Will face Rani Yahya at UFC 134.
Joseph Benavidez vs. Eddie Wineland set for UFC on Versus 5.
Filed under: UFC, NewsEddie Wineland will take one more crack at Team Alpha Male when he faces Joseph Benavidez at the UFC’s show in Milwaukee, UFC on Versus 5, in August.
Wineland, the first bantamweight champion in WEC history, is coming off his fi…
Wineland, the first bantamweight champion in WEC history, is coming off his first loss in nearly two years, a unanimous decision setback against Alpha Male kingpin Urijah Faber at UFC 128 in March. Now he’ll take on Faber’s training partner. The UFC announced the verbal agreement at its website late Tuesday night.
Benavidez (14-2, 1-0 UFC) has won two straight since a split decision loss to bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz at WEC 50 last August. He submitted Wagnney Fabiano at WEC 52 in November, and in March, also at UFC 128, he beat Ian Loveland by unanimous decision on the preliminary card.
Wineland’s loss to Faber, in the co-main event at UFC 128, snapped a four-bout winning streak for the Northwest Indiana-based 135-pounder, who is also a full-time firefighter. Wineland (18-7-1, 0-1 UFC) had put together back-to-back Knockout of the Night bonuses in his last two WEC bouts before fighting Faber in their UFC debuts.
With the win over Wineland, Faber earned a shot at Cruz’s title at UFC 132 in July. After the fight, UFC president Dana White told MMA Fighting that had Wineland upset Faber, he likely would have been given a shot at Cruz, the only fighter in the division with a longer streak than Wineland going into the Faber fight.
While Wineland will be looking for some payback for the Faber loss, Benavidez, with a win, could find himself in an interesting situation. A victory over Wineland would be three straight for Benavidez, putting him right back into title contention. If Faber, who dropped from featherweight to bantamweight last fall, beats Cruz to win the title, talk would soon begin on whether the two close friends and teammates would fight each other.
The UFC late Tuesday also announced featherweights Leonard Garcia and Alex “Bruce Leroy” Caceres, from Season 12 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” will meet on the Milwaukee card. And Jared Hamman will move up from welterweight to fight CB Dolloway at middleweight, the UFC said earlier this week.
UFC on Versus 5 will take place Aug. 14 at the Bradley Center in downtown Milwaukee. The card has filled up quickly, including a welterweight potential slugfest between Chris Lytle and former title challenger Dan Hardy; a lightweight bout between former WEC champ Ben Henderson and Jim Miller; and Stephan Bonnar, who spent time training in Milwaukee under Duke Roufus several years ago, against Karlos Vemola.
Sources close to Reinhardt’s camp confirmed the news to MMA Fighting early Friday, and the UFC also announced the fight booking on its website. Reinhardt also said on his Facebook page that he is “so glad to be fighting such a tough UFC vet.”
The bout will take place at the UFC’s Aug. 14 event in Milwaukee at the Bradley Center. That card, UFC on Versus 5, will be the promotion’s debut in Wisconsin.
Reinhardt (20-2, 0-2 UFC), a veteran of mostly Midwest promotions, signed with the WEC last fall to face Tiequan Zhang, a highly touted signee from China. But when Reinhardt didn’t get the OK on an eye exam, he was forced to pull out of the fight. That bout moved to the UFC after the merger of the two promotions, and Zhang quickly ended Reinhardt’s afternoon at UFC 127 in Sydney with a first-round guillotine.
That fight was Reinhardt’s first in more than three years. After a loss to Joe Lauzon in his UFC debut at UFC 78 in November 2007, he picked up two regional wins – and then was out of action until he returned in February.
At 41, assuming Hall of Famer Randy Couture stays retired, Reinhardt is the oldest active fighter on the UFC roster. Sources close to Reinhardt told MMA Fighting recently that rather than cutting Reinhardt loose again, the promotion wanted him to make the drop to bantamweight to stay on the roster.
Figueroa (7-1, 0-1 UFC) racked up seven stoppages in Texas before signing with the UFC in March for a short-notice fight against Michael McDonald at UFC Fight Night 24 in Seattle. He lost by unanimous decision, but picked up a Fight of the Night bonus check.
Now the kickboxing practitioner will go from a fight against the UFC’s youngest fighter, McDonald, to a fight against its new elder statesman, Reinhardt.
UFC on Versus 5 will be one of the promotion’s four scheduled cards on the Versus cable channel in 2011. Versus was the broadcast home of the WEC, and in 2010 also hosted a pair of UFC events.
Already announced for the card is a welterweight bout between former title challenger Dan Hardy and Chris Lytle; a lightweight fight between former WEC champion Ben Henderson and Jim Miller; a light heavyweight bout between Stephan Bonnar, who used to train in Milwaukee under Duke Roufus, and Karlos Vemola; and a welterweight contest between Season 8 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” Amir Sadollah and Duane Ludwig.
Filed under: UFCThe UFC on Versus 5 fight card will be headlined by Dan Hardy vs. Chris Lytle in a welterweight scrap taking place Aug. 14 in Milwaukee.
On paper, Hardy vs. Lytle could potentially be a violent barnburner, considering the two men’s wil…
On paper, Hardy vs. Lytle could potentially be a violent barnburner, considering the two men’s willingness to box. Also on the card, Jim Miller could conceivably earn a title shot if he passes former WEC champion Ben Henderson in the co-headliner.
Filed under: UFCThe UFC on Versus 5 fight card will be headlined by Dan Hardy vs. Chris Lytle in a welterweight scrap taking place Aug. 14 in Milwaukee.
On paper, Hardy vs. Lytle could potentially be a violent barnburner, considering the two men’s wil…
On paper, Hardy vs. Lytle could potentially be a violent barnburner, considering the two men’s willingness to box. Also on the card, Jim Miller could conceivably earn a title shot if he passes former WEC champion Ben Henderson in the co-headliner.
Filed under: UFC, NewsFresh off his first UFC win at UFC 129, Ben Henderson is wasting no time in continuing his forward momentum. The former WEC lightweight champion has already agreed to his next fight, and it will come against one of the the divisio…
Fresh off his first UFC win at UFC 129, Ben Henderson is wasting no time in continuing his forward momentum. The former WEC lightweight champion has already agreed to his next fight, and it will come against one of the the division’s surging talents.
Henderson will face Jim Miller at UFC on Versus 5 on August 14, the UFC confirmed late on Tuesday night.
Eddie Wineland
Veteran fighter 
The 
Fresh off his first UFC win at UFC 129,