‘Sapo’-Fukuda Targeted for UFC 133 in Philadelphia
Mike Whitman Apr 14, 2011
Rafael Natal (above) will do battle with Riki Fukuda at UFC 133.
| Peter Lockley/Sherdog.com
A middleweight showdown pitting Rafael Natal against Riki Fukuda is being targeted for UFC 133 in June.
Sherdog.com confirmed the bout with a source close to the event on Thursday after the promotion relayed the news via Twitter. While not yet officially announced by the promotion, UFC 133 is expected to go down August 6 from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Also likely for the event is an additional middleweight tilt between Jorge Rivera and Alessio Sakara, as well as a bantamweight duel pitting Michael McDonald against Nick Pace.
Representing Gracie Fusion, Natal has yet to taste victory during his UFC career. Debuting with the promotion in September 2010, the Brazilian fell in his first Octagon outing to Rich Attonito. 'Sapo' would then fight three months later at UFC 124 in Montreal, battling Canadian Jesse Bongfeldt to a majority draw. A black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, the Renzo Gracie protégé holds seven of his 12 career victories by submission and has only been finished twice in nearly six years as a pro.
Fukuda was last seen competing Down Under at UFC 127 in February, making his Octagon debut against “Ultimate Fighter” Season 11 competitor Nick Ring. After three hard-fought rounds, Ring was awarded a controversial unanimous decision, handing the Grabaka product the first loss in his last seven outings. Fukuda, 30, is a veteran of Dream, Shooto and EliteXC. He holds over half of his career wins by decision and has only been knocked out once since debuting in 2004.
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