The UFC and Spike TV are at it again, as the two are set to air two of the preliminary bouts from the highly anticipated UFC 116 event over the Fourth of July weekend. In a heavyweight match up, Brendan Schaub will attempt to further distance himself from his knockout loss to Roy Nelson late last year in a bout against Chris Tuchscherer, while middleweights Kendall Grove and Goran Reljic will battle at the 185-pound mark.
Schaub’s knockout loss to Nelson at “The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale” was his first professional loss, but he was quick to rebound with his fifth knockout victory on his career against Chase Gormley at “UFC on Versus 1.” The bout lasted just 47 seconds after the official tore Schaub away from his damaged opponent.
Tuchscherer, who comes from the same camp as UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, has had a rather mediocre run in the UFC. After suffering a technical knockout loss to Gabriel Gonzaga, mainly due to a shot to the groin that clearly affected Tuchscherer, he rebounded with a highly controversial split-decision victory over Tim Hague at UFC 109. Like Schaub, Tuchscherer has won the majority of his fights via knockout.
In the middleweight match up, the always inconsistent Kendall Grove will look to rebound from his technical knockout loss to Mark Munoz at UFC 112. After winning season three of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Grove has failed to live up to the high expectations that come with winning the reality series. He has only won three of his last seven bouts, making this fight of the utmost importance if Grove ever plans to be a contender at 185-pounds again.
Grove’s opponent, Reljic, is also coming off a disappointing loss of his own, dropping a decision to season 9 of “The Ultimate Fighter” winner Ross Pearson at “Ultimate Fight Night 22.” The loss was Reljic’s first as a professional, as he holds an 8-1 record overall and a 1-1 record in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Reljic has become popular mostly due to his entertaining striking style, which features his devastating spinning back kicks that have yielded him success in the cage.
UFC 116 is set for Las Vegas, Nevada’s MGM Grand Garden Arena on July3. The event is headlined by a heavyweight title fight between champion Brock Lesnar and interim-champion Shane Carwin and is set to serve as the UFC’s Fourth of July weekend event. The Schaub-Tuchscherer and Reljic-Grove fights will be aired live on Spike TV prior to the highly-anticipated pay-per-view event.
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