A pair of heavyweight strikers collide in June at UFC 115 now that Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (26-7-2 MMA, 3-3 UFC) and Pat Barry (5-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) have agreed to a matchup.
Sources close to the event today told how bout agreement should be distributed shortly and that the competitors were told it'll be part of the night's pay-per-view main card. MMAScrapsRadio.com first reported the fight earlier today.
Barry initially was expected to fight Gilbert Yvel (36-14-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at the June 12 event.
Although not officially announced by the UFC, UFC 115 takes at GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
With Barry now fighting Filipovic, his original opponent, Yvel, instead fights Ben Rothwell which is a great fight itself.
Barry's opponent, Filipovic, recently evened his UFC record to 3-3 with a second-round TKO of late replacement Anthony Perosh at UFC 110. (Perosh replaced Rothwell, who was forced off the card due to traveler's flu.) Although sometimes slow and sluggish in the bout, Filipovic nevertheless controlled the pace of the fight and staked claim to the win, which moves him to 4-1 (with one no-contest) over his six fights, which have come in the UFC and DREAM.
Yvel, 33, was unsuccessful in his much-anticipated octagon debut when Junior Dos Santos stopped him with strikes at UFC 108 in January. A striker by trade, Yvel was picked up by the UFC shortly after the collapse of Affliction Entertainment and entered the promotion with eight wins in his prior nine fights.
This to me makes two real exciting fights at heavy weight..this ensures the Vancouver crowd are gonna see some knock outs.
