The UFC clearly does not believe in jinxes. For the third time, Jorge Rivera and Alessio Sakara have been scheduled to fight. The pair will face off at UFC 133, which takes place Aug. 6 at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia.
The middleweights have already been matched twice. They were originally set to fight at UFC 118, but Rivera pulled out with a broken arm. Then, Sakara pulled out of their UFC 122 date with a “flu like illness.”
Michael Bisping stopped Rivera’s three-fight winning streak at UFC 127. After months of trash talk, Bisping allegedly spit in the direction of Rivera’s team after scoring a second-round knockout. Rivera holds victories over TUF champion Kendall Grove, David Loiseau and Nate Quarry.
Sakara’s drop to middleweight has revitalized his career. He dropped his first fight at the new weight before rolling out three-straight victories including a split-decision victory over former title challenger Thales Leites. In his last fight, top-prospect Chris Weidman stopped his momentum with a decision victory.
Rashad Evans and Phil Davis will headline UFC 133 in a light heavyweight bout. Evans was set to challenge Jon Jones for the UFC title, but Jones pulled out of the bout with a hand injury.