UFC on FOX 7: Henderson vs. Melendez, Cormier vs. Mir set for April 20

The UFC on FOX 7 card is getting started with a bang as UFC officials have confirmed that the UFC lightweight title will be defended on FOX for the second time by Ben Henderson (18-2).

Henderson will be taking on the final Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez (21-2). Also, Daniel Cormier (11-0) will be taking on Frank Mir (16-6) in UFC heavyweight action.

The UFC on FOX 7 event will take place April 20 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The main card will air on FOX with preliminary fights airing on FX and potentially Facebook.

Henderson is coming off a dominant unanimous decision win over Nate Diaz at the UFC on FOX 5 event in December. It was his second title defense since taking the belt from Frankie Edgar at UFC 144 in February 2012, and Henderson was named the UFC’s “Fighter of the Year”.

Melendez is coming off a split decision win over Josh Thomson in his final Strikeforce bout in May 2012. Melendez has been dealing with injuries that have kept him on the shelf as they prevented him from taking on Pat Healy at the final Strikeforce show this past Saturday. He’ll finally get the chance to prove he’s a top lightweight after a couple of less than impressive performances.

Cormier is coming off the dominant TKO win over Dion Staring on the final Strikeforce card this past Saturday. The Strikeforce Heavyweight GP champion called out Mir in his post-fight interview and asked to fight him at this event.

Mir hasn’t fought since suffering a TKO loss against Junior dos Santos at UFC 146. Mir was riding a three fight winning streak going into the bout, and took the bout on short notice as he replaced Alistair Overeem who was suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Stay tuned to ProMMAnow (www.prommanow.com) for more UFC on FOX 7 news and coverage.