TJ Waldburger (Josh Hedges/UFC)
Welterweights booked for June 22 bout
Brian Ebersole will look to extend his winning streak to 11 and stay unbeaten in the UFC when he faces TJ Waldburger this summer.
UFC officials late Wednesday announced the fight booking between the two welterweights, saying verbal agreements are in place for them to meet at UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida. That event will take place June 22 in Atlantic City. And though a venue hasn’t been announced yet by the UFC, reports indicate the targeted location is the new oceanside Revel resort, which will officially open just a month before the UFC rolls into town.
The main event for UFC on FX 4 will be a lightweight contenders bout between two-time title challenger Gray Maynard and Clay Guida.
Ebersole (49-14-1, 1 NC, 3-0 UFC) needed more than 60 fights to finally get a shot at the UFC. But when he got there last year, he took full advantage of the opportunity. His upset of Chris Lytle at UFC 127 put him on the mainstream MMA map. He followed that unanimous decision victory with a submission of Dennis Hallman at UFC 133 in August, then beat Claude Patrick by split decision at UFC 140 in December to go to 3-0 in the UFC in 2011.
The Midwest native has lived and trained primarily in Australia the last several years, where most of his fights since 2006 have taken place. Ebersole has won 14 of his last 15 fights, with the lone setback coming against current Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard.
Waldburger (15-6, 3-1 UFC) has put together a two-fight winning streak, both victories coming by submission. At UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann earlier this month in Sydney, Waldburger submitted Jake Hecht with an armbar just 55 seconds into the first round. And UFC Fight Night 25 in September, his first-round triangle win over Mike Stumpf took home Submission of the Night honors. Twelve of the Texan’s 15 career wins have come by submission.
UFC on FX 4 will be the UFC’s first show in Atlantic City since UFC 53 in June 2005. The event will be the UFC’s seventh in Atlantic City, a city known for hosting major boxing events. The first three took place at the Trump Taj Mahal, followed by three at the Boardwalk Hall.