UFC President Dana White confirmed Tuesday that verbal agreements between middleweight sluggers Jorge Rivera and Alessio Sakara are in place for UFC 133.
Although the exact day and location are not official, UFC 133 will most likely be held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Penn., on Aug. 11.
“Better late than never,” said UFC president Dana White, referring to the fact Rivera and Sakara were originally scheduled to meet at UFC 122 in Oberhausen, Germany but Sakara had to pull out due to illness.
Sakara (15-8, 1 NC) is a 29-year-old Italian boxer turned MMA fighter. He made his UFC debut against Ron Faircloth at UFC 55 in Oct. 2005. The fight ended in a No Contest in the second round after Faircloth struck Sakara in the groin and he was unable to continue.
Sakara holds a UFC record of 6-5, 1 NC. Between 2008-2010 he won three fights in a row, but most recently suffered a unanimous decision loss to Chris Weidman at UFC on Versus 3 in March.
Rivera (19-8) is ten years the elder of Sakara. And like Sakara, he was on a three-fight win streak until his last fight, when he suffered a second round TKO stoppage to Michael Bisping at UFC 127 in February.
Stay close to ProMMAnow.com (www.prommanow.com) and our Upcoming Events page as more bouts are announced and date and location details are confirmed for UFC 133.
HT: UFC.com