Now that we have a UK fight card, it's time to populate it.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) today (July 19, 2011) unveiled plans to bring UFC 138 to the LG Arena at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England.
Headlining the Nov. 5 telecast on Spike TV will be a middleweight mash-up between division contenders Chris "The Crippler" Leben and Mark "The Philippine Wrecking Machine" Munoz, who represent the promotion's first five-round non-title fight.
Joining them across the pond is a bantamweight battle between World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) veterans Renan "Barao" do Nascimento Mota Pegado and Brad "One Punch" Pickett.
The Daily Telegraph brought word of the pending match-up earlier today.
"Barao" made his Octagon debut at UFC 130: "Rampage vs. Hamill" back on May 30, scoring a unanimous decision win over the venerable Cole Escovedo.
The surging Brazilian hasn't been defeated in 25 fights and stands at an impressive 26-1.
Pickett (20-5), despite what his nickname suggests, hasn't scored a knockout since 2008. Nonetheless, he's won nine of 10 fights since that time, with his only loss coming (via decision) to former division number one contender, Scott Jorgensen, back in Aug. 2010.
In his most recent appearance, Pickett earned a unanimous decision over Ivan Menjivar at WEC 53: "Henderson vs Pettis" in Dec. 2010. The fight against "Barao" will serve as the Octagon debut for the heavy-handed British import.
Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for future updates to this still-developing fight card.