Booking Roundup: Gegard Mousasi Comes Back to Japan!

Once again, it’s been a ridiculous week in the world of mixed martial arts. Chad Mendes was named as the official opponent for Conor McGregor at UFC 189, but there were several other fights announced as well! Catch up with the news on this week’s Booking Roundup!

UFC Fight Night 71: Sicilia Gets a New Opponent
Yootzin Meza has been chosen as the late replacement of Doo Ho Choi who was scheduled to fight Sam Sicilia on July 15th in California. Choi was forced to withdraw from the bout for undisclosed reasons earlier this week. Meza is coming fresh off a win over Damian Stasiak from their April bout in Krakow, Poland.

UFC Fight Night 72: Brimage Opponent Swapped Day After It was Announced
As soon as Marcus Brimage was set to square off with Ian Entwistle at UFC Fight Night 72, Entwistle was forced to pull out of the bout due to an injury. As a result of this, Jimmie Rivera will square off with Brimage in Glasgow, Scotland. The fight will take place in the bantamweight division where Brimage hopes to get back to his winning ways. Rivera, on the other hand, will be looking to extend his winning streak to 16.

UFC Fight Night 74: Sam Stout Is Coming Home
Sam Stout will return to his home country of Canada to face off with fellow lightweight Frankie Perez. Stout has suffered two consecutive losses and hasn’t won a fight since 2013. Perez is also coming off a loss against up-and-comer Johnny Case.

Shane Campbell is also set to make his return to the octagon after a tough debut loss to John Makdessi at UFC 186. Campbell, a muay-thai world champion, will have another opportunity to prove to the fans that he truly is an elite striker. His opponent, Elias Silverio, will be looking to pick up his twelfth career win in thirteen fights. Rashid Magomedov finished him with only three seconds remaining in the bout his last outing in the octagon.

UFC Fight Night Japan: Gegard Mousasi Returns to Japan

While Josh Barnett and Roy Nelson’s main-event clash for the September 27th card was made official months ago, UFC announced the official co main-event for the card. Gegard Mousasi will be making his return to Japan to face Roan Carneiro. Carneiro hasn’t made an appearance in the octagon since his February win over Mark Munoz. He is currently riding a six fight win streak and a win over the elite Mousasi could boast him into the top ten.

If Mousasi can score a win over Carneiro, it will be his third win in a row and a 38th career victory. Even though Carneiro is currently ranked #15 in the middleweight division, Mousasi could catapult himself above former middleweight champion Anderson Silva with a dominant victory.

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