Fitch-Alves Rematch Official for UFC 117

A pivotal rematch between welterweight title contenders Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves will co-headline UFC 117 “Silva vs. Sonnen” on Aug. 7 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. Eleven bouts are now official for the event, which will air live on pay-per-view.

Fitch and Alves were originally scheduled to lock horns in December, but the Brazilian suffered what was described as a small tear to a posterior cruciate knee ligament and withdrew. Rebooked for UFC 111, the rematch had to again be postponed after Alves’ prefight medical exam revealed a brain irregularity and necessitated a surgical procedure. Fitch defeated Alves by second-round technical knockout at UFC Fight Night 5 in June 2006.

Anchored at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif., Fitch last competed at UFC 111 in March, when he earned a unanimous decision against Ben Saunders. The 32-year-old Fort Wayne, Ind., native has secured 19 wins in his past 20 fights, losing only to reigning UFC welterweight king Georges St. Pierre in that span. Fitch owns other notable victories against former World Extreme Cagefighting title challenger Brock Larson, the world-ranked Paulo Thiago, one-time Sportfight champion Chris Wilson and “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 1 winner Diego Sanchez.

Still only 26, Alves has not appeared in the Octagon since his unanimous decision loss to St. Pierre at UFC 100 last summer. The defeat snapped a seven-fight winning streak for the American Top Team-trained “Pitbull,” one of the division’s most feared stand-up fighters. Wins against former UFC welterweight titleholder Matt Hughes, the world-ranked Josh Koscheck and Karo Parisyan anchor his resume.

A middleweight title fight between embattled champion Anderson Silva and outspoken challenger Chael Sonnen will headline UFC 117, which will also feature a welterweight matchup between Hughes and former King of Pancrase Ricardo Almeida. A lightweight duel pitting Clay Guida against Rafael dos Anjos and a heavyweight showdown between “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 10 winner Roy Nelson and surging contender Junior dos Santos will round out the main card.

UFC 117 “Silva vs. Sonnen”
Saturday, Aug. 7
Oracle Arena
Oakland, Calif.

UFC Middleweight Championship
Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen

Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves
Clay Guida vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Matt Hughes vs. Ricardo Almeida
Junior dos Santos vs. Roy Nelson
Thiago Silva vs. Tim Boetsch
Dustin Hazelett vs. Rick Story
Stefan Struve vs. Christian Morecraft
Johny Hendricks vs. Charlie Brenneman
Ben Saunders vs. Dennis Hallman
Rodney Wallace vs. Stanislav Nedkov