It looks like we're going to see Chris Leben and Alessio Sakara throw some leather after all at UFC 82: "Pride of a Champion" on Saturday March 1 from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, according to UFC.com.
In fact, the middleweight showdown bumped the welterweight bout between Diego Sanchez and David Bielkheden off the televised portion of the pay-per-view (PPV) broadcast.
For more details on the fight between Sakara, which marks his 185-debut, and "The Crippler" click here.
This latest news confirms that there will indeed be 10 bouts for the second-ever card to take place in Columbus. Let's have one final peek:
Main Event:
UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva (20-4) vs. Dan Henderson (22-6)Main card (televised):
265 lbs.: Cheick Kongo (11-3-1) vs. Heath Herring (27-13)
185 lbs.: Alessio Sakara (12-6) vs. Chris Leben (17-4)
185 lbs.: Evan Tanner (32-6) vs. Yushin Okami (21-4)
170 lbs.: Jon Fitch (15-2) vs. Chris Wilson (13-3)Under card (may not be broadcast):
265 lbs.: Andrei Arlovski (11-5) vs. Jake O'Brien (10-0)
170 lbs.: Luke Cummo (6-4) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (11-3)
170 lbs.: Josh Koscheck (9-2) vs. Dustin Hazelett (10-3)
170 lbs.: Diego Sanchez (17-2) vs. David Bielkheden (12-5)
155 lbs.: Jorge Gurgel (11-3) vs. John Halverson (16-5)
This shake-up makes some sense -- it was hard to explain the reason Koscheck was buried on the prelims even though he defeated Sanchez back in April 2007. "The Nightmare" then lost his next bout to Jon Fitch at UFC 76: "Knockout" later in September.
Having said that, the former winner of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 1 is a fan favorite and his bout will more than likely be aired between fights if time permits (something tells me the Leben-Sakara fight is not going the distance) and it is an exciting match.
For all the UFC 82-related information you can handle click here.
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