Bader-Jones Finally Official for UFC 126

A fight pitting two of the top up-and-comers at 205 pounds is now official for UFC 126 on Feb.5 in Las Vegas, as Jon Jones will lock horns with Ryan Bader.

Though news of the matchup has been reported for several weeks, the UFC confirmed it Thursday on its "Ultimate Insider" online program. The card's main event is tentatively scheduled to be a middleweight title fight between champion Anderson Silva and challenger Vitor Belfort.

Bader -- the light heavyweight winner on Season 8 of "The Ultimate Fighter" -- is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 119 in September. The win moved Bader to 5-0 in the UFC and was his third decision win in his last four fights. He was a collegiate All-American wrestler at Arizona State University before making his professional MMA debut in March 2007. Bader -- who is perfect in 12 professional mixed martial arts fights -- has wins over Keith Jardine, Eric Schafer, Vinny Magalhaes and Carmelo Marrero on his résumé.

Jones' most recent victory came in August at UFC Live 2, where he needed only 1:52 to stop veteran Vladimir Matyushenko. The Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts phenom has nine finishes among his 11 professional victories and is 5-1 during his time in the Octagon. Along with Matyushenko, Jones owns wins over Stephan Bonnar, Andre Gusmao, Jake O'Brien and Brandon Vera. The lone loss on his record is a controversial one, as he was disqualified in his fight with Matt Hamill at “The Ultimate Fighter 10” Finale in December for landing several illegal, fight-ending elbows to Hamill's face.