A welterweight bout between rising talent Anthony Johnson (7-2) and Japanese import Yoshiyuki Yoshida (11-3) is expected to take place at UFC 104 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif., on Oct. 24.
News about the possible match up cropped up at the UFC Fan Expo during the build-up to the historic UFC 100 over the weekend, and we have since been able to confirm it.
Both fighters have bounced back from losses inside the Octagon in impressive fashion and are looking to make dents in the stacked 170-pound division.
Since bursting onto the scene with a 13-second knockout of Chad Reiner, Johnson has pieced together a 4-2 record in the UFC, including revenging a loss to Kevin Burns at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Season 8 Finale by way of a devastating head kick, and then following up that win by earning a technical knockout (punches) victory over former Marine Luigi Fioravanti at UFC Fight Night 17 in February.
"Rumble" had been scheduled to face Matt Brown at the TUF 9 Finale in June, but was forced to withdrawal due to a knee injury. That month also saw him arrested and charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor, including making criminal threats in what has been called a domestic abuse case; however, Johnson denies all charges, according to his management team.
Opposing him will be Yoshida, the 2007 Cage Force welterweight tournament champion (over finalist Dan Hardy via disqualification due to an illegal kick to the groin). After submitting "War Machine" (aka, Jon Koppenhaver) via anaconda choke in his UFC debut at UFC 84, "Zenko" went on to headline the UFC: "Fight for the Troops" event in support of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.
Unfortunately for Yoshida, things did not go his way.
Josh Koscheck was able to secure a brutal knockout victory that saw "Kos" set "Zenko" up with one punch and chop him down with another. It was the first time Yoshida has been finished in his career.
Yoshida was able to bounce back from the loss with a first-round finish of his own at UFC 98, submitting Brandon Wolff via guillotine choke. He is now 10-1 in his past 11 fights with all 10 wins coming via stoppage (eight of which ended in the first round).
UFC 104 will feature a main event between UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida and contender Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. It is not known yet if the Johnson vs. Yoshida bout will be featured on the main card.
For all the latest news on UFC 104 check out our complete archive right here.
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