On Wednesday afternoon the UFC announced a light heavyweight contest between a pair of wrestling standouts in Daniel Cormier and Ryan Bader had officially been tabbed as the main event for the upcoming Fight Night card in New Orleans.

Bader (19-4), a former two-time Division I All-American wrestler out of Arizona State University, will be looking pick up his fight straight win inside the octagon and sixth in his last seven bouts.. In his most recent outing, Power MMA product earned a close split decision over fellow collegiate wrestling standout Phil Davis at UFC on FOX 14 in January.

Prior to this win, ‘Darth’ scored three straight decision over Ovince Saint Preux, Rafael ‘Feijao’ Cavalcante and Anthony Perosh. He currently holds 1o career stoppage wins, including six by way of knockout, and a UFC record of 11-4

Cormier (15-1), the 2008 U.S. Olympic wrestling captain, is coming off a heart breaking unanimous decision loss to bitter rival Jon Jones in their main title fight at UFC 182 in January. In a fight build as the biggest grudge match in UFC history, DC and Jones traded jabs at each other for months, which eventually culminated in the two coming two blows during a promotional appearance in the lobby of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. This loss marked DC’s first professional loss.

Prior to this setback, Cormier back -to-back stoppage wins over Patrick Cummins and Dan Henderson. These two wins marked Cormier’s first trip to 205-pounds after five years of competing as a heavyweight where he earned victorious over such fighters as Roy Nelson, Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva, former UFC heavyweight champions Josh Barnett, and Frank Mir. He will enter this bout with 1o career stoppage wins and a UFC record of 4-1.

The five-round main event will take place on June 6 live on FOX Sports 1 from the Smoothie King Center.

About The Author

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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.