Let’s try this again.

On Wednesday afternoon, the UFC announced they had officially rebooked the bantamweight contest between Anthony Birchak and former title contender Joe Soto for the upcoming UFC Fight Night 68 in June.

The two were originally scheduled to meet at UFC 177 last August, in what was expected to be both man’s UFC debut, before Soto was promoted to the main event opposite UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw. This reshuffling came after it was revealed Dillashaw’s original opponent Renan Barão was forced to withdraw from the title fight after passing out during his weight-cut just hours before the weigh-ins.

Soto (15-3), also a former Tachi Palace Fights and Bellator MMA champion, would go on to suffer a fifth round TKO to Dillashaw. Prior to this setback, the man known as ‘One Bad Mofo’ had strung together six straight wins under various other promotions. He will enter this bout with 12 career stoppage wins, including eight by way of submission.

Birchak (11-2), a former MFC champion, was last seen suffering a heart breaking first round submission loss in his UFC debut to Ian Entwistle at UFC on FOX 13. This setback snapped the Phoenix native’s five fight twin streak, which included a decision over UFC flyweight Chris Benoit and TKO over UFC bantamweight Roman Salazar. ‘El Tore’ will enter this bout with nine career stoppage wins, including six by way of knockout.

UFC Fight Night 68 is scheduled to take place on June 6 live on FOX Sports 1 from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. A light heavyweight bout between Ryan Bader and Daniel Cormier will serve as the main event.

About The Author

News Manager

José began his career as a mixed martial arts journalist while still enrolled at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University. Since graduating in May 2013, he has attended dozens of high profile UFC fight cards as a credentialed member of the media, providing live cage side coverage through his articles and videos. His work has appeared on UFC.com, ArizonaSports.com and AZCentral. He is also currently one of the main contributors on Power MMA Show at Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, one of the first all MMA radio shows on a major radio station.