UFC 85: Hughes vs. Alves

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Matt Hughes the world’s best ever UFC welterweight champion will now headline UFC 85 that will be held on June 7, 2008 at The O2 arena in London, England. The original headline fight was suppose to be Shogun versus Chuck Liddell but Shogun has to withdrawal due to injury. Rashad Evans than replaced The Iceman to replace Shogun but just recently Chuck Liddell was forced to withdraw from the mixed martial arts bout with Rashad due to a hamstring injury. Now Evans is awaiting a light heavyweight opponent but the UFC needs a headline fight. Well Joel Silva the UFC match maker has just announced that Matt Hughes will face well rounded fighter Thiago Alves.

Alves is 13 and 3 and his recent upset over Karo Parisyan at UFC Fight Night 13 has catapulted him to title contention. He also has wins over Chris Lytle, Tony DeSouza and Marcus Davis., with a win over the UFC legend Matt Hughes will put Alves in line for a welterweight title shot. Alves is known for his hard hands and being a well rounded jujitsu fighter. He is currently associated and trains with American Top Team.

Also announced for the UFC 85 card will be Dan Henderson but his opponent has not been announced yet, it has not also been announced if he will fight at either the 185 middleweight division or the 205 light heavyweight division. Also a fight between UFC welterweights Ryo Chonan and Roan Carneiro was originally suppose to be announced but Chonan’s name was later removed from the card without explanation by the UFC.

To replace Liddell the UFC has announced that Evans will now fight James Sandman Irvin who recently beat Houston Alexander at UFC - Fight Night 13 in just 8 seconds with a KO from a Superman punch.

Despite the recent headline being dropped twice and the absence of Shogun and Liddell in the lineup is still stacked with some great fighters like Thales Leites, Thiago Tavares, Nathan Marquardt, Fabricio Werdum and Brandon Vera.

The Line for UFC 85 which is subject to change includes:

Main Card

Welterweight bout:  Matt Hughes vs.  Thiago Alves
Either Middleweight or Lightheavyweight bout:  Dan Henderson vs. 
Middleweight bout:  Michael Bisping vs.  Chris Leben
Welterweight bout:  Mike Swick vs.  Marcus Davis
Light Heavyweight bout:  Rashad Evans vs.  James Irvin
Heavyweight bout:  Fabricio Werdum vs.  Brandon Vera

Preliminary Card

Middleweight bout:  Martin Kampmann vs.  Jorge Rivera
Middleweight bout:  Nathan Marquardt vs.  Thales Leites
Lightweight bout:  Matt Wiman vs.  Thiago Tavares
Light Heavyweight bout:  Jason Lambert vs.  Luis Cane
Welterweight bout:  Roan Carneiro vs. TBA 
Heavyweight bout:  Antoni Hardonk vs.  Neil Wain
Welterweight bout:  Jess Liaudin vs.  Paul Taylor

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