Veteran Brazilian fighter Johnny Eduardo has signed with the UFC and will make his debut with the promotion in his home country at UFC 134 next month.
The company announced late Sunday on its UFC Brazil Twitter feed Eduardo has signed on for a bantamweight fight against Raphael Assuncao in Rio de Janeiro.
Assuncao had been rumored for a fight against Strikeforce and Dream vet Darren Uyenoyama, but that fight never materialized. Instead, Eduardo (25-8) will make his promotional debut against a fellow Brazilian.
Eduardo will enter UFC 134 riding an 11-fight winning streak. His last loss came four years ago at a Shooto event in Brazil. Though most of his 33 career fights have been in his native Brazil, Eduardo does have one Stateside fight, a unanimous decision win over Donald Sanchez at Bellator 3. Nineteen of Eduardo's 25 career wins have been by stoppage.
After going 3-2 in the WEC, Assuncao (16-4, 0-1 UFC) made his UFC debut in March with a knockout loss to Erik Koch, who had taken the fight on a month's notice for an injured Manny Gamburyan. Assuncao has just one win since 2009 – a decision victory over LC Davis at WEC 52 last November. The Atlanta-based Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt will be making his bantamweight debut, dropping down from featherweight.
UFC 134 will take place Aug. 27 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. It will be the promotion's first event in Brazil since UFC Ultimate Brazil in 1998. The pay-per-view card is headlined by a middleweight title fight between Brazil's Anderson Silva and the last man to beat him, Japan's Yushin Okami.
In addition, the main card features a light heavyweight bout between former champions Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Forrest Griffin and a heavyweight fight between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Brendan Schaub. Of the 12 bouts on the card, 11 involve Brazilian fighters. All told, 13 Brazilians will are scheduled to compete at the event, a new high-water mark for a UFC show.
The company announced late Sunday on its UFC Brazil Twitter feed Eduardo has signed on for a bantamweight fight against Raphael Assuncao in Rio de Janeiro.
Assuncao had been rumored for a fight against Strikeforce and Dream vet Darren Uyenoyama, but that fight never materialized. Instead, Eduardo (25-8) will make his promotional debut against a fellow Brazilian.
Eduardo will enter UFC 134 riding an 11-fight winning streak. His last loss came four years ago at a Shooto event in Brazil. Though most of his 33 career fights have been in his native Brazil, Eduardo does have one Stateside fight, a unanimous decision win over Donald Sanchez at Bellator 3. Nineteen of Eduardo's 25 career wins have been by stoppage.
After going 3-2 in the WEC, Assuncao (16-4, 0-1 UFC) made his UFC debut in March with a knockout loss to Erik Koch, who had taken the fight on a month's notice for an injured Manny Gamburyan. Assuncao has just one win since 2009 – a decision victory over LC Davis at WEC 52 last November. The Atlanta-based Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt will be making his bantamweight debut, dropping down from featherweight.
UFC 134 will take place Aug. 27 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. It will be the promotion's first event in Brazil since UFC Ultimate Brazil in 1998. The pay-per-view card is headlined by a middleweight title fight between Brazil's Anderson Silva and the last man to beat him, Japan's Yushin Okami.
In addition, the main card features a light heavyweight bout between former champions Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Forrest Griffin and a heavyweight fight between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Brendan Schaub. Of the 12 bouts on the card, 11 involve Brazilian fighters. All told, 13 Brazilians will are scheduled to compete at the event, a new high-water mark for a UFC show.
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