Middleweights Kalib Starnes (8-1-1) and Alan Belcher (10-3) will clash at UFC 77 on October 20, according to a report from Sherdog.com.
The pay-per-view (PPV) event, which takes place at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio, will feature the rematch between current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva and hometown hero, former titleholder Rich Franklin, as the main event.
A former contestant on season three of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), Starnes is coming off a unanimous decision win over the gritty Chris Leben at UFC 71 in May. It was the "Fight of the Night," and one in which the Canadian was humble in victory.
Starnes -- who recently joined American Top Team (ATT) to improve his stand up -- has a respectable record inside the Octagon (2-1), with his only loss coming via technical knockout courtesy of Yushin Okami at UFC 64.
Here's a snip from him on his new training regimen and potential opponent:
"The weakest part of my game has been my boxing ... so to come down here to focus with an Olympic Gold Medalist with almost 40 years experience in the game, Howard Davis Jr. -- that's invaluable. I can get great training in Vancouver, but when it comes to sparring, in Florida I have 20 guys in my weight class to spar with as opposed to two in Vancouver. I need to have guys in there all the time who are better than me or as good as me, and that's what I get down here .... He [Belcher] has got heavy hands and he hits hard, and he has some jiu-jitsu experience. He'll be a big boy, so it should be a good fight."
Indeed, in his last fight against Sean Salmon at UFC 71, Belcher took the light heavyweight bout (20 more than the traditional 185) on short notice and dispatched of the former Ohio State University NCAA Division I wrestler in less than one minute.
Similar to Starnes, "The Talent" also dropped a fight to Okami at UFC 62 via unanimous decision -- a memorable showdown because of the unconventional move that Belcher implemented, diving head first into the canvas to shuck the Japanese star off his back.
It didn't work. And after the defeat, he later went on to get worked and eventually submitted by Kendall Grove at UFC 69.
Regardless of the prior losses, both fighters are coming off of impressive wins and will look keep the momentum rolling when they meet on October 20.
It's important to note that the bout agreements for this fight have not been signed ... yet.
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