UFC 85

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Leben vs. Bisping confirmed for UFC 85

by Dann Stupp on Apr 26, 2008 at 12:05 am ET

Just hours after the organization announced a UFC 85 main event of Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves, the UFC also confirmed a main-card bout between Chris Leben (18-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and Michael Bisping (15-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC).

MMAjunkie.com mentioned the possibility of the bout on Wednesday, and on Friday evening, the UFC made it official.

UFC 85, which also features a bout between former headliner Rashad Evans and James Irvin (a replacement for injured Chuck Liddell), takes place at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Bisping agreed to the bout less than a week after his UFC 83 main-card victory over Charles McCarthy. Bisping, the light heavyweight winner of "The Ultimate Fighter 3," made his middleweight debut with a first-round TKO at the event. McCarthy announced his retirement just days after the fight.

Bisping will now take on hard-hitting Leben, a product of the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" who most recently TKO'd Alessio Sakara at UFC 82 in March. The 27-year-old, who began his UFC career with five straight victories, will now go for his third straight win after back-to-back losses to Jason MacDonald and Kalib Starnes.

With this week's flurry of UFC 85 transactions, a solid middleweight bout between Nate Marquardt and Thales Leites has now officially been relegated to the un-televised preliminary card.

UFC 85 is currently slated to air on pay per view.

The latest card now includes:

MAIN CARD (TELEVISED)

• Thiago Alves vs. Matt Hughes
• Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben
• Marcus Davis vs. Mike Swick
• Rashad Evans vs. James Irvin
• Brandon Vera vs. Fabricio Werdum

PRELIMINARY CARD (NOT TELEVISED)

• Martin Kampmann vs. Jorge Rivera
• Thiago Tavares vs. Matt Wiman
• Thales Leites vs. Nate Marquardt
• Luiz Cane vs. Jason Lambert
• Roan Carneiro vs. Ryo Chonan
• Jess Liaudin vs. Paul Taylor
• Antoni Hardonk vs. Neil Wain

Hughes vs. Alves tapped for UFC 85 main event

by Dann Stupp on Apr 25, 2008 at 3:53 pm ET

Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes (42-6 MMA, 15-3 UFC) and highly ranked 170-pounder contender Thiago Alves (14-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) have stepped up to fill the UFC 85 main-event slot vacated by an injured Chuck Liddell.

Hughes made the announcement on his official website. However, the UFC hadn't announced the bout as of Friday afternoon.

UFC 85 takes place June 7 at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Hughes, who said he wants to fight rival Matt Serra after the fight with Alves, is coming off a UFC 79 loss to Georges St. Pierre for the UFC's interim welterweight title. Prior to that, he had defeated Chris Lytle via unanimous decision at UFC 68.

"June 7, in England, I fight Thiago Alves," Hughes wrote. "The fight is confirmed, (and) it will be the main event for the card. Dana (White) just called me with the news.

"No matter what happens in this fight, I've got Serra next."

Hughes will now take on Alves, one of the UFC's top fighters who's somehow managed to fly under the radar. He's currently riding a five-fight win streak with his only losses in the UFC coming to Jon Fitch and Spencer Fisher. He most recently defeated Karo Parisyan with a second-round TKO at UFC Fight Night 13 earlier this month, which moved him up the world 170-pound rankings.

Liddell, who tore a hamstring during a recent training session, was slated to headline the event with Rashad Evans. Evans now faces James Irvin instead.

More on Liddell injury, possible UFC 85 replacement

by Dave Meltzer on Apr 22, 2008 at 3:20 pm ET

Chuck Liddell, the Ultimate Fighting Championship's most well-known star, has been pulled off the June 7 main event at the O2 Arena in London due to a partial hamstring tear suffered in training on April 11.

The UFC made the official announcement Monday after Liddell told company president Dana White about the severity of his injury. Liddell had continued light training over the past week in hopes he could salvage his pay-per-view main event fight with Rashad Evans.

It was the first time in Liddell's 10-year career that he has canceled a fight, which has included fighting Tito Ortiz twice with a torn MCL, and fighting Quinton Jackson in Japan with a torn quadriceps.

Liddell said the injury, which won't require surgery, took place while doing light training, and he heard the muscle pop. He was hoping it wasn't serious but trainer John Hackelman immediately thought he had hurt it pretty bad as the entire muscle became discolored.

"I hyperextended it," Liddell said. "I probably didn't warm up enough, or it was a freak injury.

"I think I can fight by August," said Liddell, who will need four to six weeks to rehab before he can begin hard training.

"Unfortunately, Chuck Liddell tore his right hamstring during training last week, and being the warrior that he is, he still wanted to fight, which is the reason everyone in the world loves him," said White in a release. "But I wouldn't let anyone fight with his leg looking that way. Let him heal and come back and fight when he is 100 percent."

Liddell said he was lucky that the partial tear was in the belly of the muscle and not the insertion, so it should heal faster.

After the injury, he continued to train his upper body and was swimming without much stress on his legs, while doctors advised him against fighting.

"I can't walk without a limp," he said, but noted the pain is manageable, and in recent days has been able to ride the bike, but not at a fast pace, and has started throwing light kicks in the swimming pool as well as doing bodyweight squats. But he can't push off or do any kind of normal fight training.

UFC is attempting to both get a replacement to face the undefeated Evans, 16-0-1, as well as add a couple of matches to the show to make up for Liddell not appearing. They are going to schedule 13 matches instead of 11 as originally planned. James "Sandman" Irvin, who tied a UFC record with an eight second knockout of Houston Alexander on April 2 in Broomfield, Colo., is among those under consideration.

Brandon Vera vs. Fabricio Werdum in a heavyweight match was the scheduled No. 2 match on the show.

The O2 Arena in London, which holds 16,200 fans for a UFC setup, was a few hundred tickets shy of sold out as of Monday according to UFC officials, who noted that even with higher ticket prices, sales were ahead of the pace of the debut show on Sept. 8 headlined by the Quinton Jackson vs. Dan Henderson UFC vs. Pride title unification match.

Liddell said he had never told White in advance about any injuries, but felt he had to tell him about this one. White, likely figuring if Liddell called to tell him about it that it had to be serious, told Liddell it wasn't a smart move to take the fight with the injury, which could worsen in training or fighting and threaten his career longevity.

Chuck Liddell injured, out of UFC 85

by Eric Foster on Apr 22, 2008 at 12:00 am ET

According to a report on UFC.com, Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell has torn his right hamstring and has been forced out of a scheduled fight with Rashad Evans at UFC 85.

The fight between Liddell and Evans was previously set to headline the event, which takes place June 7 at the 02 Arena in London, England.

According to the report, the UFC will improve the fight card in multiple ways in the wake of the withdrawal of one of the UFC's biggest stars. The organization will soon be announcing a new main event to replace Evans vs. Liddell, and will fill out the event with even more fights than normal -- a reported 13. This would give the card the most fights of any UFC event in the past 10 years.

In the report, UFC President Dana White went on record to reassure the fans, saying "We're adding fights to the card and rearranging it so the UK fans won't have to worry. We'll still be bringing an amazing card to London and the O2 Arena. The UFC always delivers."

For further details, including a nasty photo of Liddell's injured leg, check out the full report on UFC.com.

Before his own injury, Liddell was originally slated to face Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in the bout, but the former PRIDE star had to pull out himself due to a knee injury.

Marcus Davis vs. Mike Swick Signed for UFC 85

by Dann Stupp on Mar 28, 2008 at 9:11 am

A UFC 85 fight between surging welterweight Marcus Davis (14-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) and former middleweight contender Mike Swick (11-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) has been signed and now appears official.

Joe Cavallaro, who represents Davis, confirmed with MMAjunkie.com that they've signed a bout agreement for the fight. Additionally, Swick today confirmed on MySpace that he has also signed on for the fight.

UFC 85 takes place June 7 at the O2 Arena in London, England. Chuck Liddell meets Rashad Evans in the night's main event.

Rumors of the Davis-Swick fight first popped up in February.

Davis, a former professional boxer who's transformed his overall game since appearing on "The Ultimate Fighter 2," will go for his 12th straight victory, including his seventh straight win in the UFC. Although blessed with quick hand speed, Davis has finished six of his past 11 victories via submission. He currently splits training time between his own gym in Maine, Team Irish Mixed Martial Arts, and Jorge Gurgel's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu center near Cincinnati, Ohio.

Swick, who emerged as a middleweight contender after appearing on the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter," recently dropped to 170 pounds and scored a majority-decision win over Josh Burkman in his debut as a welterweight.

Swick said he was unhappy with the lackluster UFC Fight Night 12 performance -- as were the booing fans who watched the fight.

"I didn't do what I should have in my last fight, and even though it was a win, I took it as a (loss)," Swick wrote. "I can't wait till June 7 to bring back my old self, who goes out there and gives the fans a fight to tell their friends about."

Report: Lambert vs. Cane Signed for UFC 85

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Mar 19, 2008 at 9:05 am

UFC light heavyweights Jason Lambert (23-7 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and Luis Arthur Cane (7-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) have agreed to meet at UFC 85 and have signed bout agreements for the fight.

That's the word from Sherdog.com, which learned the contracts were signed last week.

UFC 85 takes place June 7 at the O2 Arena in London, England. Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans meet in the night's main event.

Lambert is looking to rebound from a second-round knockout loss to Wilson Gouveia at UFC 80. He had won three consecutive fights in the UFC -- and eight fights afterall -- before a knockout loss to Rashad Evans at UFC 63. He then rebounded for an upset victory over Renato "Babalu" Sobral at UFC 68.

Cane will look for his first UFC victory over after a disqualification loss to James Irvin at UFC 79. Cane got off to a quick start in the fight but tagged his opponent with a knee to the face during a scramble on the ground. With Irvin unable to continue, he was awarded the victory via disqualification -- a decision that ired Cane.

Jess Liaudin: Fighting Paul Taylor at UFC 85

by Dann Stupp on Mar 17, 2008 at 1:22 pm

England-based fighter Jess Liaudin (12-9 MMA, 2-1 UFC) says he will fight Brit Paul Taylor (8-3-1 MMA, 1-2 UFC) at UFC 85.

Liaudin made the announcement with a recent MySpace bulletin.

UFC 85, which features a main event between Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans, takes place at the 02 Arena in London, England. Both Liaudin and Taylor will fight in England for the fourth consecutive time.

The two fighters first met at Cage Rage 2 in February 2003, where Liaudin lost -- what he calls -- a "controversial decision." The rematch will likely come on the UFC 85 un-televised preliminary card.

Liaudin made his UFC debut last year and posted a first-round submission victory over Dennis Siver at UFC 70 and a first-round TKO of Anthony Torres at UFC 75. The two victories pushed his win streak to five straight, but he was stopped by Marcus Davis at UFC 80 earlier this year with a 64-second knockout.

"This fight is very important for me as my actual record in the UFC is 2-1, so another loss may mean that I can get booted out (from the organization)," Liaudin wrote.

He'll now take on Taylor, who debuted with a third-round TKO of Edilberto de Oliveira at UFC 70. However, he's since suffered a submission loss to Davis at UFC 75 and a unanimous decision loss to Paul Kelly at UFC 80.

Rashad Evans Readies for Chuck Liddell

by David Hiza and Ken Gonzalez [Between-Rounds] on Mar 14, 2008 at 12:01 pm

The title picture for the UFC's light heavyweight division will become a lot clearer over the next couple months, but Rashad Evans is still unwilling to fight fellow contender and Team Jackson teammate Keith Jardine -- even if it could earn him a shot at the title.

Evans, an undefeated light heavyweight and winner of "The Ultimate Fighter 2," talked about the state of the UFC's light-heavyweight division and his June 7 UFC 85 main-event fight with Chuck Liddell while a recent guest on ESPN Radio's "Between Rounds" program.

And while he and Jardine may both be just a win or two away from a title shot, Evans said he's not willing to battle his teammate and training partner to get it. As he said, it's just "not worth it."

Check out what Evans told "Between Rounds" hosts Dave Hiza and Ken Gonzalez in this sampling from their recent radio interview.

Dave Hiza: What are your thoughts on the fight with Liddell?

Rashad Evans: I think it's is a good matchup for me. Chuck Liddell is a tough customer, but at this point in my career, I'm not going to get away with fighting too many guys that are not tough. I'll take them anyway they line up.

Ken Gonzalez: Well, yeah. Last three fights: Ortiz, Bisping, Liddell. No slouches there.

Rashad Evans: No slouches. I welcome the challenge. Like I said, I enjoy it. This is, after all, a fun career. I want to make it as fun as possible and not put too much pressure on myself to try to go out there and not fight the best people. I want to fight the best people and challenge myself all the time.

Dave Hiza: After you found out Mauricio "Shogun" Rua was out of the fight with Liddell because his knee was messed up, did the UFC call you -- or did you call them?

Rashad Evans: They called me and asked me if I wanted to step up and face him. I was like, "Yeah, sure!" I was very happy to take the fight. Chuck is one of those fights you definitely get up for. I've watched Chuck on TV when I was in college, and it was a fight I definitely wanted to have one day.

Dave Hiza: You saw guys like him on TV in college, and you would always said, "Hey I'll totally fight that guy?"

Rashad Evans: Once I started training, I was like, "I'll fight that guy." But... he is a beast. But, once I started training, (I said), "Man, I would love to fight that guy one day."

Dave Hiza: Your teammate Keith Jardine was able to take out the Iceman. Do you think that will be to your advantage?

Rashad Evans: I think it will definitely help to my advantage that he was able to do that. It's the same plan Greg Jackson sat down and devised. It's a great fighting plan for fighting Chuck. So, I think it will definitely help out, but you can have the greatest fight plan in the world and if you don't go out there and execute it, then it doesn't mean anything. Ultimately, it comes down to me being able to go out there and execute the game plan.

Dave Hiza: Against Chuck, do you see this fight standing, or are you taking him down? In the past, the hardest thing is taking him down. I know you probably think, "No sweat."

Rashad Evans: Chuck is a very tough person to take down, but there are ways around that. I have seen holes and ways I can exploit that. He is very tough, and he is a pretty good wrestler, and it will be very tough. A lot of people have good takedown defense, but a takedown has to do a lot with timing. If I get in at the right time, it doesn't matter who they are.

Dave Hiza: If I was guessing the future, I could see the winner of this fight fighting the winner of champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson against Forest Griffin. Do you see that being the case?

Rashad Evans: If that was the case, that would be excellent. I can definitely see that, but before that would be the case, maybe Jardine, provided he beats Wanderlei Silva. He will probably be rightfully next in line.

Dave Hiza: OK, so what if you take out Chuck and he takes out Wanderlei Silva? What happens then?

Rashad Evans: I let him get that title shot if they give it to him. I will help him get ready for it.

Dave Hiza: But you never see that fight happening with you and Jardine?

Rashad Evans: No. When you bleed, sweat and go through what we go through in training, and bond -- how you bond with a teammate -- fighting and everything else that might get in the way of a friendship is not really worth it. It is not really worth it for me to jeopardize what we built in our relationship just for a fight. There is enough room for the both of us to be very successful in our careers in the same weight class.

Dave Hiza: Well I hope that can stay the case. I just see you two butting heads at the No. 1 contender's spot.

Rashad Evans: It could happen, and that is a good thing. We said that. "That would be a great situation when we are next in line to fight each other." That means we have done our job.

Ken Gonzalez: Well Rashad, we appreciate it and wish you the best of luck.

Dave Hiza and Ken Gonzalez are the hosts of ESPN Radio's "Between Rounds" program, a content parter of MMAjunkie.com. The show can be heard in San Diego, Indianapolis, Atlantic City, Calgary, Cedar Rapids and other cities. For more information and .mp3 audio interviews with fighters, check out www.betweenroundsradioshow.com.

Report: Thiago Tavares vs. Matt Wiman at UFC 85

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Mar 12, 2008 at 9:14 am

Promising lightweight Thiago Tavares (13-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) will meet "The Ultimate Fighter 5" stand-out Matt Wiman (9-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) in June at UFC 85.

The news comes from Sherdog.com, who confirmed the bout with Tavares.

UFC 85 takes place June 7 at the 02 Arena in London, England. Chuck Liddell meets Rashad Evans in the night's main event, and as MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported on Tuesday, Nate Marquardt and Thales Leites will also meet at the event.

After two victories in the UFC, Tavares suffered his first career loss to Tyson Griffin at UFC 76. He bounced back from the unanimous-decision loss for a victory over Michihiro Omigawa at UFC Fight Night 12 in January.

The 23-year-old is currently in Brazil training with the Minotauro team training center.

Although he was eliminated by eventual show runner-up Manny Gamburyan, Wiman has been on a tear since his time on "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series. The 24-year-old scored a first-round TKO over Brian Geraghty at The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale, and he followed it up with a unanimous-decision victory over Omigawa (UFC 76) and a first-round submission of Justin Buccholz (UFC Fight Night 12).

His only UFC loss was to Spencer Fisher, which took place at UFC 60 -- months before he appeared on "TUF."

Thales Leites vs. Nate Marquardt Set for UFC 85

by Dann Stupp on Mar 11, 2008 at 4:12 pm

Visa issues forced Thales Leites (12-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) to cancel a scheduled October 2006 bout with Nate Marquardt (26-7-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC), and then a broken hand forced him out of a second attempt at the fight last month at UFC 81. However, the two UFC middleweights will give the fight a third try at UFC 85 in London.

The fight has been accepted and Marquardt has signed a bout agreement, a representative from his camp today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

The fight was first reported by GracieMag.com.

UFC 85 takes place June 7 at the O2 Arena in London, England. Chuck Liddell meets Marquardt's training partner, Rashad Evans, in the night's main event.

With the UFC's middleweight division short on contenders, the winner of the Leites-Marquardt bout could inch very close to a potential title shot.

After Leites pulled out of the UFC 81 fight, Marquardt instead took on late replacement and veteran fighter Jeremy Horn. Marquardt dominated the fight and earned a second-round victory after securing a guillotine choke. It was the 28-year-old's seventh victory in his past eight fights, with the only loss coming in a title shot with Anderson Silva at UFC 73.

Leites, a 26-year-old Brazilian, made his UFC debut at The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale and dropped a unanimous decision to middleweight standout Martin Kampmann; it was the first loss of his career. Leites has bounced with a three-fight winning streak, which includes victories over Pete Sell, Floyd Sword and Ryan Jensen.

Report: Chonan vs. Carneiro Signed for UFC 85

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Mar 10, 2008 at 8:46 am

Ryo Chonan (12-6 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and Roan Carneiro (14-8 MMA, 0-1 UFC) have signed bout agreements to fight at UFC 85, an event that takes place June 7 at the O2 Arena in London, England.

The report comes from Sherdog.com, citing sources close to both camps.

The fight will be a rematch from the two fighters' first encounter at a February 2005 DEEP event, where Chonan earned a third-round TKO victory due to a cut.

Chonan, a longtime PRIDE and DEEP fighter, made his UFC debut in November against Karo Parisyan. His signing was lauded by fans, largely because of Chonan's body of work; the 31-year-old has previously posted victories over the likes of UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, EliteXC stand-out Joey Villasenor, and former UFC welterweight champ Carlos Newton.

Carneiro, a member of the Florida-based American Top Team, most recently defeated Tony DeSouza at UFC 79 to push his UFC record to 2-1. The 30-year-old's only loss in the octagon was to welterweight contender Jon Fitch.

When the fighters first met two years ago, Chonan caught Carneiro with a knee to the head, which caused a deep cut and eventual stoppage.

UFC Officially Announces UFC 85: Liddell vs. Evans

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Mar 07, 2008 at 4:00 pm

With Mauricio "Shogun" Rua scratched from the event with injury, former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell (21-5 MMA, 16-4 UFC) will instead fight Rashad Evans (11-0-1 MMA, 6-0-1 UFC) in the main event of "UFC 85: Liddell vs. Evans."

The UFC made the official overnight -- just days after the organization confirmed that Rua had reaggravated an ACL injury that forced him out of the fight.

UFC 85 takes place June 7 at the O2 Arena in London, England. In addition to Liddell vs. Evans, the UFC also confirmed a long-rumored bout of Brandon Vera (8-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) vs. Fabricio Werdum (10-3-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC).

More than 8,000 tickets have already been sold for UFC 85, and the organization expects even more when Liddell visits London next week for a whirlwind media tour.

Liddell is looking to return to the UFC's light-heavyweight title picture. The former champ lost his belt to Quinton Jackson at UFC 71 and then suffered a loss to Keith Jardine via split decision in September. They were the first back-to-back losses of Liddell's career. He returned for a vital victory over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79 in December.

Evans, meanwhile, was expected to fight Thiago Silva at May's UFC 84 event. Instead, he will step up for his second straight main-event fight. "The Ultimate Fighter 2" winner's only blemish on an otherwise perfect record was a draw to Tito Ortiz at UFC 73. However, Evans bounced back for a split-decision victory over co-headliner Michael Bisping at UFC 78 in November.

Werdum most recently defeated Gabriel Gonzaga in January, and UFC president Dana White had hinted that it would earn the Brazilian a title shot. Instead, he'll face Vera, who broke his hand in the first round of a unanimous-decision loss to Tim Sylvia in October.

"Shogun" Reinjures Knee, Scratched from UFC 85 Fight with Liddell

by Dann Stupp on Mar 04, 2008 at 2:53 pm

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (16-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has re-injured his knee and has been scratched from a UFC 85 main event with Chuck Liddell (21-5 MMA, 16-4 UFC).

The news comes from Thomas Gerbasi of UFC.com.

According to the report, Rua ruptured the ACL in his left knee, which is the same injury that forced a surgery after a UFC 76 loss to Forrest Griffin.

UFC 85 takes place June 7 at the O2 Arena in London. The UFC will announce a replacement for Rua "shortly."

The 26-year-old made his octagon debut at UFC 76 and suffered an upset submission loss (via rear-naked choke) to Griffin. Prior to the bout, the Brazilian PRIDE veteran had won 12 of 13 fights. He recently underwent knee surgery but had returned to training earlier this year.

Rua will again go under the knife. There's no timetable for his return to the UFC.

Liddell, who won the UFC's light-heavyweight title at UFC 52, made four successful title defenses before a loss to Quinton Jackson this past May. He then dropped a split decision to Jardine in September for the first back-to-back losses of his career. However, he rebounded for a unanimous-decision victory over Wanderlei Silva in the co-main event of UFC 79 back in December.

He'll look to build upon that win at the 02 Arena, the same 16,000-capacity venue that hosted September's UFC 75 event.

Martin Kampmann vs. Jorge Rivera at UFC 85

by Dann Stupp on Mar 04, 2008 at 8:56 am

On the one-year anniversary of the fighter's last bout in the UFC, Martin Kampmann's camp has confirmed that the Dane (15-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) will meet Jorge Rivera (15-6 MMA, 4-4 UFC) at UFC 85 in London.

Kampmann's manager, Ken Pavia, told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that bout agreements have not been signed but that the fight has been accepted by both fighters. The fight was first reported on Monday by Sherdog.com Radio.

UFC 85 takes place June 7 at the 02 Arena in England. Chuck Liddell meets Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in the night's main event.

Kampmann had emerged as a middleweight contender before suffering a serious knee injury while training for a UFC 72 main-event fight with Rich Franklin. Prior to the injury, Kampmann submitted Crafton Wallace at UFC Fight Night 6, earned a unanimous decision over Thales Leites at UFC Fight Night 4, and submitted Drew McFedries at UFC 68.

"I was going for a takedown, and the guy just kind of fell on my knee," Kampmann told MMAjunkie.com in a recent interview. "It was real bad luck. My knee popped out and hyper-extended the wrong way. I tore my ACL and MCL, and I tore my meniscus as well. It was major surgery.

"I went back a couple months later (for a second surgery); it was a chip or something in there. There wasn't a second injury. It was just a scope. It was minor. They just had to clean it up. It was nothing compared to the first one. It was no big deal with the second one."

During the interview, Kampmann said he expected to be training at 100 percent by mid-March.

He'll try to extend his current eight-fight winning streak against UFC vetean Rivera, a cast member from "The Ultimate Fighter 4" who scored an upset of Kendall Grove in his most recent fight. The 36-year-old fighter stopped Grove with an 80-second knockout via punches at UFC 80.

The victory pushed Rivera's UFC record to 4-4, which has included victories over Edwin Dewees, Dennis Hallman and David Loiseau.

Report: Fabricio Werdum vs. Brandon Vera Slated for UFC 85

by Dann Stupp on Feb 21, 2008 at 2:40 am ET

Prior to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's victory over Tim Sylvia earlier this month, UFC President Dana White said that Fabricio Werdum would likely get the next shot at the title. However, it now appears he'll first have to get by Brandon Vera (8-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC).

Werdum and Vera are slated to battle at UFC 85, an event that takes place June 14 at the O2 Arena in London, according to a report from The Fight Network.

According to the report, bout agreements have not been signed.

Werdum, a former PRIDE Fighting Championships fighter, signed with the UFC last year. He was considered an instant heavyweight contender (fresh off a first-round submission victory over Aleksander Emelianenko), but after a lackluster loss to Andrei Arlovski at UFC 70, Werdum seemingly fell off the UFC's radar. After an eight-month layoff, though, he finally returned at UFC 80 in January and scored a stunning second-round TKO of UFC heavyweight contender Gabriel Gonzaga.

Vera, meanwhile, began his UFC career with three straight victories before he earned a bout with Frank Mir. Although questions marks still surrounded the brash youngster, Vera defeated the former UFC heavyweight with a first-round TKO at UFC 65. The November 2006 fight would be his last for nearly a year, though, as he worked out issues with his former management. Vera was supposed to fight then-champ Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 nearly a year ago, but with the issues still unresolved, Randy Couture got the fight instead.

Vera last competed at UFC 77 this past October, where he suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Sylvia. After the fight, Vera stated that he had suffered a broken hand early in the fight.