Former WEC light heavyweight champions Steve Cantwell (6-2) and Brian Stann (6-2) will duke it out in a rubbermatch inside the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 19 from the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., on Sept. 16.
The 205-pound match up, which was originally supposed to take place back in Dec. 2008, was today confirmed by the promotion.
Stann -- a former Marine who earned a Silver Star for valor while serving his country in Iraq — defeated Doug Marshall early last year to capture the WEC title. However, his reign atop the weight class was short lived (just five months later) thanks to Cantwell and a second round technical knockout.
In the process, Cantwell avenged the first loss of his career to the "All American" back in early 2007. He rebounded after the loss with a three-fight win streak, stopping all of his opponents to earn another shot at Stann.
Stann and Cantwell were brought over to the UFC when the WEC eliminated its heavier divisions in late 2009.
Both fighters have struggled a bit with the transition -- Stann dropped his Octagon debut to Krzysztof Soszynski via first round submission (kimura) at UFC 97 earlier this year. And Cantwell dropped a lopsided unanimous to Luis Arthur Cane on the same card; however, "Robot" did win his debut with a first round submission (armbar) over Razak Al-Hassan at UFC Fight For The Troops in Dec. 2008.
UFC Fight Night 19 features a main event between TUF 5 winner Nate Diaz tangling with Melvin "The Young Assassin" Guillard. It is also expected to feature a lightweight rumble between Roger "El Matador" Huerta and Gray "The Bully" Maynard.
It will serve as the lead-in for the upcoming tenth season of TUF, which features Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson and a solid collection of 15 other heavyweight fighters competing in a tournament-style format to earn one "six-figure contract."
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