Stevenson vs Pelligrino at 74 - Fight Forum - MMA - UFC - Boxing - K1

RockemSockem · 04-30-2007, 02:11 PM

The Ultimate Fighter 2 welterweight winner Joe Stevenson (27-7 MMA, 4-1 UFC) will face Kurt Pellegrino (10-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) at UFC 74 in August.

Pellegrino recently made the announcement during an interview on TheFightWorksPodcast.com.

UFC 74 takes place Aug. 25, and like the UFC 73 card in July, is already shaping up to be an event stacked with talent. UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture is expected to face Gabriel Gonzaga at the event, and Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck are expected to meet in a battle of the welterweight division’s top contenders. Rumored sites for the Aug. 25 event include Albuquerque, N.M. and Las Vegas.

Stevenson and Pellgrino have both recently emerged as top contenders in the UFC’s budding lightweight division. The winner of this bout could earn a title shot with the winner of the UFC 73 bout between UFC lightweight champ Sean Sherk and top contender Hermes Franca.

Stevenson, fresh off a quick submission victory over Melvin Guillard at UFC Fight Night 9, also beat Yves Edwards (UFC 61) and Dokonjonosuke Mishima (UFC 65) to push his UFC win streak to three straight. He’s won 12 of his past 13 fights –Â the only blemish being a unanimous-decision loss to Josh Neer at UFC Fight Night 4 last year.

Pellegrino, who posted submission victories in eight of his 10 career wins, is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and decorated grappling expert. He submitted Junior Assuncao at UFC 64Â in October 2006 and Nate Mohr at UFC Fight Night 9 earlier this month. Overall, he’s won eight of his past nine fights.

A lot of people will look at this fight as a step down for Stevenson. Which it is. But this fight has the potential to be one of the best ground fights we've seen in a while. We haven't gotten many of those potential matchups lately except for Diego-Kos. And we all know how that went. I will look forward to this fight.