UFC 123 Prelims to Air on Spike TV
Joe Myers Oct 3, 2010
UFC
123, scheduled for Nov. 20 at the Palace of Auburn Hills in
Auburn Hills, Mich., will reportedly get a Spike TV "Prelims Live"
special featuring a middleweight bout between Aaron
Simpson and Mark Munoz,
and a welterweight contest pitting Rory
MacDonald against Matt Brown.
News of the special was first reported by MMAJunkie.com.
The "Prelims Live" show will serve as a lead-in for the pay-per-view broadcast, which is headlined by a light heavyweight matchup between former champions Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Lyoto Machida. Also slated for the card is the third fight between B.J. Penn and Matt Hughes, and a lightweight showdown that sees Joe Lauzon face off with George Sotiropoulos.
Both Munoz -- who won an NCAA Division-I national title while
wrestling for Oklahoma State -- and Simpson come into their bout
looking to rebound from losses. Munoz dropped a split decision to
Yushin
Okami in a featured matchup at UFC on Versus 2 in August,
snapping a three-fight win streak. Simpson, meanwhile, was knocked
out by Chris Leben
in the second round of their fight at The Ultimate Fighter 11
Finale in June. That loss was the first of Simpson's career
following seven straight wins.
Before the loss to Leben, Simpson -- himself a two-time All-American wrestler at Arizona State University -- had posted wins over Tom Lawlor, Ed Herman and Tim McKenzie during his time with the UFC. Munoz owns victories against Mike Pierce, Nick Catone, Ryan Jensen and "Ultimate Fighter" Season 7 champion Kendall Grove.
The 29-year-old Team Jorge Gurgel product Brown has dropped two straight fights, making the pending bout a "must-win." In his last Octagon appearance, Brown was the victim of a second-round armbar by Chris Lytle at UFC 116 in July. Before that, he was submitted via rear-naked choke by Ricardo Almeida in their UFC 111 bout in March. Wins over James Wilks, Pete Sell and Ryan Thomas anchor his resume.
MacDonald is just 21, but the Toshido Fighting Arts team member rattled off 10 straight wins to open his professional MMA career before recently losing his first fight. At UFC 115 in June, Carlos Condit came back from being down two rounds to knock out MacDonald with only seven seconds remaining in the final frame.
Prior to the loss, MacDonald -- who has never gone the distance in 11 pro bouts -- already had wins against Michael Guymon, Clay French and Kajan Johnson on his record.
The "Prelims Live" show will serve as a lead-in for the pay-per-view broadcast, which is headlined by a light heavyweight matchup between former champions Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Lyoto Machida. Also slated for the card is the third fight between B.J. Penn and Matt Hughes, and a lightweight showdown that sees Joe Lauzon face off with George Sotiropoulos.
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Before the loss to Leben, Simpson -- himself a two-time All-American wrestler at Arizona State University -- had posted wins over Tom Lawlor, Ed Herman and Tim McKenzie during his time with the UFC. Munoz owns victories against Mike Pierce, Nick Catone, Ryan Jensen and "Ultimate Fighter" Season 7 champion Kendall Grove.
The 29-year-old Team Jorge Gurgel product Brown has dropped two straight fights, making the pending bout a "must-win." In his last Octagon appearance, Brown was the victim of a second-round armbar by Chris Lytle at UFC 116 in July. Before that, he was submitted via rear-naked choke by Ricardo Almeida in their UFC 111 bout in March. Wins over James Wilks, Pete Sell and Ryan Thomas anchor his resume.
MacDonald is just 21, but the Toshido Fighting Arts team member rattled off 10 straight wins to open his professional MMA career before recently losing his first fight. At UFC 115 in June, Carlos Condit came back from being down two rounds to knock out MacDonald with only seven seconds remaining in the final frame.
Prior to the loss, MacDonald -- who has never gone the distance in 11 pro bouts -- already had wins against Michael Guymon, Clay French and Kajan Johnson on his record.
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