Ed Herman Meets Clifford Starks at UFC 143

Clifford Starks

Middleweights square off Super Bowl weekend

A middleweight bout between Ed Herman and Clifford Starks has been added to the UFC’s Super Bowl Saturday card in Las Vegas.

The UFC announced the fight Wednesday, saying verbal agreements are in place for the fight at UFC 143 on Feb. 4.

Herman (19-7, 6-5 UFC) returned to the UFC earlier this year after nearly two years away thanks to knee injuries. And his return has been a highly successful one. In June, at the TUF 13 Finale, Herman shut down Tim Credeur in just 48 seconds with a TKO. And at UFC on Versus 5 in August, he submitted Kyle Noke with a heel hook – giving him his first winning streak in four years.

Prior to the two wins in 2011, Herman had lost three of his last four fights. The veteran of Season 3 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” who lost to Kendall Grove in the TUF 3 Finale, started his UFC career 0-2. But he rebounded with three straight wins – all fight night bonus winners – before hitting his 1-3 stretch that culminated with a TKO knee injury against Aaron Simpson that ultimately kept him on the sidelines for so long.

Starks (8-0, 1-0 UFC) made his UFC debut in October at UFC 137, winning a unanimous decision against Dustin Jacoby. Starks was a late injury replacement for Brad Tavares in that fight, taking it on just two weeks notice. The Rage in the Cage and Shark Fights veteran was a college wrestling teammate of Cain Velasquez at Arizona State University.

Though UFC officials didn’t indicate the placement of the fight on the card, it is likely to be a part of the preliminary broadcast, which will air either on the FX or Fuel TV cable channels.

UFC 143 features a main event interim welterweight title fight between Carlos Condit and former Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz. Also on the card, welterweight contender Josh Koscheck faces Mike Pierce and Roy Nelson meets Strikeforce heavyweight crossover Fabricio Werdum.