Luke Rockhold and Tim Boetsch will square off in a middleweight duel at UFC 166 in Houston.
Rockhold, 28, enters into his confrontation with Boetsch coming off his first loss in more than five years. The former Strikeforce champion made his UFC debut on May 18, suffering a first-round knockout courtesy of a Vitor Belfort wheel kick at UFC on FX 8. Rockhold won the Strikeforce belt from Ronaldo Souza in 2011 and defended the title twice, besting Keith Jardine and Tim Kennedy before the promotion folded earlier this year.
Boetsch has lost back-to-back fights, most recently relinquishing a unanimous decision to Mark Munoz on July 6 at UFC 162. “The Barbarian” dropped to middleweight in 2011 and rattled off four straight wins prior to hitting his recent skid, topping the likes of Yushin Okami and Hector Lombard before sustaining a third-round technical knockout at the hands of the hard-hitting Costas Philippou this past December at UFC 155.