A welterweight standoff has been agreed to, as jiu-jitsu wizard Ricardo Almeida will take on former WEC Welterweight Champion Mike Pyle at the upcoming UFC 128 event set to go down on March 19 from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
MMAWeekly.com brought word of the pending match-up earlier today.
Almeida made his welterweight debut at UFC 111: "St. Pierre vs Hardy," which was also held at the Prudential Center, nearly a year to the day that he will return to "The Shore" to try to push his 170-pound standing to 3-1.
After Matt Hughes schooled him on what a front headlock and a ton of power can do, "Big Dog" bounced back with a unanimous decision win over TJ Grant in what he called an "unimpressive performance."
There won't be room for mistakes when he's fighting against "Quicksand."
If it seems like Mike Pyle has been around forever, it's because he has. A veteran of 29 professional fights, the Xtreme Couture product punched his ticket to the UFC after ripping off four wins in a row back in 2008.
He's gone a mediocre 3-2 with the world's largest fight promotion but he's currently riding a two-fight win streak and is fresh off derailing the hype train for welterweight up-and-comer John Hathaway at UFC 120.
At 35 years of age, Pyle isn't getting any younger and a victory over Almeida may provide just the surge he needs to make one more run in his storied career.
UFC 128 has not been officially announced by the promotion but is expected to feature Light-Heavyweight Champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua defending his title for the first time against "Suga" Rashad Evans.
Kurt Pellegrino vs Gleison Tibau is also expected for the card while Frank Mir vs Brendan Schaub is rumored for March although it is unknown if it will take place at this event.
Stay tuned to MMAMania.com for more on this still-developing fight card as it become available.
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