Heavyweights booked for Aug. 4 card at Staples Center
Matt Mitrione will fight for the first time in more than nine months when he meets Rob Broughton this August.
The two heavyweights will fight as part of UFC on Fox 4, which takes place Aug. 4 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The UFC on Tuesday announced the fight booking.
As first reported by HeavyMMA, the main event of UFC on Fox 4 will be the UFC debut of former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard, who will fight Brian Stann. The card also features a light heavyweight bout between Ryan Bader and former champion Lyoto Machida and a heavyweight fight between Ben Rothwell and Travis Browne.
Mitrione (5-1, 5-1 UFC) in October suffered the first loss of his MMA career when he was outpointed by Cheick Kongo at UFC 137. The former all-Big Ten and NFL defensive lineman started his career 5-0, all in the UFC, with four knockouts and a Fight of the Night decision win over Joey Beltran in front of his home fans at UFC 119 in Indianapolis.
Mitrione first got his MMA recognition on Season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” on which he became a bit of a polarizing character, including verbally sparring with coach Rashad Evans. But once out of the house, “Meathead” has become something of a fan favorite. The Indianapolis-based heavyweight splits training time between a gym in Indiana with the likes of former UFC standout Chris Lytle and the Imperial Athletics team in South Florida.
Broughton (15-7-1, 0-2 UFC) will be trying to snap a two-fight losing streak when he meets Mitrione. The Brit has dropped consecutive unanimous decisions to Travis Browne and Philip De Fries. His UFC debut was a submission win over Vinicius Queiroz in front of his countrymen at UFC 120 in October 2010.
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Matt Mitrione Meets Rob Broughton at UFC on Fox 4 in Los Angeles