Now that Pat Barry has taken a step up in competition to face Mirko Filipovic, Gilbert Yvel will get the Croat's original opponent when Ben Rothwell joins "The Hurricane" at UFC 115 on June 12 in Vancouver according to MMAWeekly.
"Big" Ben was supposed to face "Cro Cop" at UFC 110 earlier this month before calling in sick. And you can bet he must have really been ill considering how anxious he is to erase the memories of his last fight.
The former International Fight League (IFL) standout contested the timing of his TKO stoppage loss against Cain Velasquez in the co-main event at UFC 104: "Machida vs. Shogun" back on Oct. 24.
The Miletich Fighting Systems (MFS) product was on the receiving end of a one-sided beatdown that consisted of Velasquez taking him down, controlling him on the ground and punching him in the face en route to a second round loss. Rothwell contends that he was finally back to his feet and ready to turn things around until referee Steve Mazzagatti robbed him of his chance to pull off what would have been nothing short of a miraculous comeback.
Like Rothwell, Yvel would like to leave MMA fans with a different memory after being stopped with a crushing left hook courtesy of Junior dos Santos at UFC 108 in his UFC debut earlier this year. Before succumbing to the explosive hands of Dos Santos, Yvel had won eight of his prior nine bouts, with his last win coming against Pedro Rizzo last summer.
He could conceivably get right back into the thick of things if he's able to finish Rothwell -- or he may be updating his resume if "Big" Ben prevails.
UFC 115 is expected to feature the third (and hopefully final ) dance between former light heavyweight champions Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, fresh off their coaching gigs at The Ultimate Fighter 11.
Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for future updates on this still-developing fight card.
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