Bisping vs. Boetsch and Barao vs. Hougland added to UFC 148 this summer

Today the  UFC announced two bouts for UFC 148 that’s set to take place on July 7th in Las Vegas, Nevada. A middleweight bout between Michael Bisping and Tim Boetsch as well as a featherweight bout between Renan Barao amd Jeff Hougland have been verbally agreed upon. The targeted main event will be the third match up between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber. Cruz will be looking to defend his bantamweight title for the second time against Faber as he took a unanimous decision victory over him at UFC 132.

Michael Bisping(22-4) is coming off a close unanimous decision loss to Chael Sonnen earlier this year at the UFC on FOX 2 event. Bisping had previously won four consecutive bouts prior to the loss to Sonnen, and the loss allowed Sonnen to gain his much sought after rematch with Anderson Silva later this summer.

Tim Boetsch(15-4) is coming off an outstanding come from behind TKO victory over former number one contender Yushin Okami last month at UFC 144. Boetsch has found new life in the middleweight division after competing as a light heavyweight for the majority of his career. He has won three consecutive bouts as a middleweight and a win over Bisping would put him firmly in the title contention mix.

Renan Barao(28-1) is coming off a dominant unanimous decision win over top ten bantamweight Scott Jorgensen at UFC 143. Barao lost his first professional bout but has rebounded to win his last 29 fights in a row. He has finished 19 of those opponents, 13 wins via submission, and 6 wins via TKO/KO. A win here would  have to put him in the discussion to face the winner of the Cruz vs. Faber fight in the main event.

Jeff Hougland(10-4) is coming off unanimous decision win over Donny Walker at UFC 132 which was his UFC debut. Hougland, a submission specialist, has won nine consecutive fights after starting his career at a disappointing (1-4).

The tentative fight card for UFC 148 is below:

• Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber
• Rich Franklin vs. Cung Le
• Michael Bisping vs. Tim Boetsch
• Renan Barao vs. Jeff Hougland 

Stay tuned to Pro MMA Now for more updates as more information is released about this event.