A bout between veteran light heavyweights Stephan Bonnar (11-6 MMA, 5-5 UFC) and Krzysztof Soszynski (18-9 MMA, 3-1 UFC) officially has been added to the UFC 110 fight card. The bout, which MMAjunkie reported back in November, is slated for the night’s un-aired preliminary card. UFC 110 takes place Feb. 21 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. The night’s main card airs on pay-per-view.
Bonnar, who joined the UFC after a runner-up finish on the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” looks to rebound from the second set of back-to-back losses in his past six fights. The Xtreme Couture fighter recently followed a unanimous decision loss to Jon Jones with another decision defeat to Mark Coleman at UFC 100 in July.Prior to the defeats, Bonnar had posted back-to-back wins over Mike Nickels (submission) and Eric Schafer (TKO).
Soszynski returns to the cage for the first time since a disappointing decision loss to Brandon Vera at UFC 102 in August. “The Polish Experiment” took the fight on short notice for an injured Matt Hamill. Soszynski, who advanced to the semifinals on “TUF 8″ before a loss to Vinny Magalhaes, was on a roll prior to the loss with six straight wins (three in the UFC) and a pair of Submission of the Night bonuses.
On the other hand With production set to commence later this month and a debut set for March 31 on Spike TV, the live finale for “The Ultimate Fighter 11″ also has a date: Saturday, June 19.Although not officially announced by the promotion, “TUF 11″ is expected to conclude with a live finale at a Las Vegas venue on the date, sources close to the promotion told MMAjunkie.
“TUF 11,” which features UFC legends Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell as coaches, features 16 middleweight fighters in the series’ traditional tournament format. No either details have been determined for the Spike TV-televised event, which will crown a “TUF” winner.
“TUF” debuted on Spike TV in 2005 and his since launched the careers of more than 100 UFC fighters. In addition to producing champions such as Matt Serra, Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans, the series continually produces top-level talent and perenial contenders. Both Ortiz and Liddell have previously coached on the groundbreaking series.
