UFC Fight Night 50, which is scheduled for Foxwoods Resort & Casino in Ledyard, Conn., on Sept. 5, 2014, is shaping up to be a solid event.
Two Heavyweight bouts were added to the FOX Sports 1-televised fight card earlier this evening," including Alistair Overeem vs. Ben Rothwell and Matt Mitrione vs. Derrick Lewis.
Overeem, who must now feel 100 percent healthy, recently returned to the win column at UFC 169 thanks to Frank Mir after suffering back-to-back losses to Antonio Silva and Travis Browne in 2013. Oddly, the latest Jackson-Winkeljohn trainee wanted to rematch Brock Lesnar next (see callout here), but will have to settle for "Big Ben" instead.
Rothwell is the epitome of inconsistency since his Octagon debut (4-3), unable to register consecutive victories. He most recently stopped Brandon Vera via technical knockout at UFC 164 in Aug. 2013, which would put him on course to lose his upcoming match if current trends continue.
Mitrione (7-3) has struggled in recent years after a hot start to his mixed martial arts (MMA) career. "Meathead" was able to put Shawn Jordan on ice last January in Macao, but his "Savage" victory was just the second across a span of five fights.
He was booked to welcome Stefan Struve back to the Octagon at UFC 175; however, the bout was canceled at the eleventh hour because "Skyscraper" nearly fainted backstage.
His opponent, Lewis, is fresh off a first round technical knockout of Carlos Augusto Filho at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 19 Finale this past weekend. "Black Beast" is so far perfect (2-0) in UFC, stopping Jack May in round one, too, back at UFC on Fox 11 in April 2014.
UFC Fight Night 50 features the transplanted rematch between Gegard Mousasi vs. Ronaldo Souza in the main event of the evening, while Joe Lauzon is expected to make his return against Michael Chiesa in a fun Lightweight scrap.