(Damn, Arianny. Him too?)
After out-pointing Michael Johnson last December to win the TUF 12 lightweight trophy, Jonathan Brookins is gearing up for his first post-TUF opponent in the UFC. MMA Junkie reports that the super-chill bro-dog with the funky hair will take on Jeremy Stephens at the TUF 13 Finale (June 4th, Las Vegas). Stephens is 6-5 in the Octagon (19-6 overall), and most recently knocked Marcus Davis out of a job at UFC 125. Despite Stephens’s spotty record, he’ll be a tough challenge for Brookins, whose biggest weakness seems to be his standup defense; against an explosive power-puncher like Stephens, that could be a problem.
In other UFC booking news…
- Now riding back-to-back wins, former WEC bantamweight champ Miguel Torres will look to continue his career reinvention against Brad “One Punch” Pickett at UFC 130: Edgar vs. Maynard 3 (May 28th, Las Vegas); Torres confirmed the fight himself via Twitter. While Torres hasn’t been earning many fans lately with his cautious new fighting style, Pickett has been gaining a rep as an exciting showman. The London-bred fighter compiled a 3-1 record in the WEC, and most recently defeated Ivan Menjivar by unanimous decision at WEC 53.
- Though he was originally supposed to face Matt Hamill at UFC 129 (April 29, Toronto), undefeated light-heavyweight Phil Davis is getting a new opponent due to the recent clusterfudge in the 205-pound division. The word is that ‘Mr. Wonderful’ will now be taking on Jason Brilz, who hasn’t competed since his controversial split-decision loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 114.
This is gunna be a tough one for Brookins, but Stephens has shown a repeated ability to be outclassed by fighters on their way out (Davis for 2 rounds), middle tier fighters (Fischer), and anyone with a wrestling prowess (Tibau), so this fight could go either way.