UFC 164 Gains Derek Brunson vs. Yoel Romero and Magnus Cedenblad vs. Jared Hamman
UFC officials on Monday added two middleweight bouts to the UFC 164 fight card. Derek Brunson squares off with Yoel Romero, while Magnus Cedenblad faces Jared Hamman.
UFC 164 features lightweight champion Benson Henderson putting his belt on the line against TJ Grant in the main event on pay-per-view. The event is slated for Aug. 31 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
Brunson (10-2) was rebooked for UFC 164 after his UFC on Fuel TV 10 bout with Ronny Markes was cancelled on the day of weigh-ins. Markes was pulled from the fight after being involved in a car accident.
Brunson is one of the fighters that moved over to the UFC when Strikeforce closed up shop. He debuted in December at UFC 155, winning a unanimous decision victory over Chris Leben.
He’ll step into the Octagon against Romero (5-1), who is another Strikeforce transfer. Like Brunson, Romero won his first UFC bout, which also served as his middleweight debut, when he knocked out Clifford Starks at UFC on Fox 7 in April.
Cedenblad (10-4) hasn’t set foot inside the Octagon since April of 2012, when he lost his promotional debut to Francis Carmont. He was originally expected to return against Rafael Natal at UFC on Fox 6, but had to pull out of the fight due to eye problems according to Swedish MMA site MMANYTT.se.
Hamman (13-5) is at a critical juncture in his UFC tenure with this fight. He amassed a 1-2 record at light heavyweight in the Octagon before dropping down to middleweight. Unfortunately, he hasn’t fared any better at 185 pounds, winning his first bout in the division, but losing his last two.
Coming off of a loss to Michael Kuiper last August at UFC 150 in Denver, Hamman is in desperate need of a victory if he wishes to remain on the roster.
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