Featherweights set to meet on June 1 card in Las Vegas
An intriguing bout between two highly touted featherweights has been added to the season finale card of “The Ultimate Fighter LIVE.”
Jonathan Brookins, who recently returned to the division after competing as a lightweight on Season 12 of the show, and Charles Oliveira, a recent newcomer to the division after fighting at 155, have agreed to a bout on the card. UFC officials recently announced the fight for the June 1 show in Las Vegas.
The TUF Live Finale, which caps off Season 15 of the show and the first installment to air on the FX cable network in its new partially live format, takes place at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas. Aside from crowning a lightweight winner in this current season, which is being coached by bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and top contender Urijah Faber, the card will feature a main event welterweight contenders bout between Jake Ellenberger and Martin Kampmann.
Brookins (13-4, 2-1 UFC) got back in the win column in February with a quick knockout win over Vagner Rocha at UFC on Fuel TV: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger. That win may have erased a little of the memory of a unanimous decision loss to Erik Koch last September in Brookins’ return to featherweight. Prior to that, in his official UFC debut in the Season 12 lightweight finals of “The Ultimate Fighter” in December 2010, Brookins beat Michael Johnson by unanimous decision to win his UFC contract.
Oliveira (15-2, 1 NC, 3-2, 1 NC UFC) won for the first time in 16 months when he submitted Eric Wisely at UFC on Fox: Evans vs. Davis in January in Chicago – sort of. He beat Nik Lentz last June by TKO. But after it was clear his win came due to an illegal knee that went unnoticed by the referee, that victory was overturned by the Pennsylvania commission to a no contest. That no contest was sandwiched between a submission loss to Jim Miller and a TKO loss to Donald Cerrone, putting him in a three-fight funk after starting his UFC career 2-0 with Submission of the Night wins over Darren Elkins and Efrain Escudero. Oliveira’s win over Wisely was his debut at featherweight.
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Jonathan Brookins vs. Charles Oliveira Booked for ‘The Ultimate Fighter LIVE’ Finale