Two welterweights to recently emerge as the No. 3 and No. 4 competitors in the division – who sits where is one for debate – have a final hurdle to clear before getting a title shot.
UFC president Dana White announced Friday that the promotion is targeting a fight between Johny Hendricks (13-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) and Martin Kampmann (20-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) for UFC 154, possibly as the co-main event to an expected headliner between undisputed champ Georges St-Pierre and interim champ Carlos Condit.
UFC 154 takes place Nov. 17 at Bell Centre in Montreal.
White made the announcement following "UFC on FX 3: Johnson vs. McCall," which took place Friday at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla.
A source close to the event told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the welterweight fight represents a contingency plan of sorts in case St-Pierre, who's still recovering from a torn ACL, is unable to fight at the November event.
In any event, the matchup settles a question left in the air by a logjam currently holding up the 170-pound division. Hendricks claimed his top spot by besting Josh Koscheck at "UFC on FOX 3: Diaz vs. Miller," which brought his current win streak to four. Kampmann, meanwhile, continued a stunning career resurgence with a TKO of Jake Ellenberger at The Ultimate Fighter Live Finale this past week.
Both had reasonable claim to meet the winner of the title-unification bout planned for November. Hendricks had recently seized upon Condit's recent comment that a fight with Kampmann would be fine if St-Pierre's injury kept him out longer than expected.
But now, the two will fight to determine the No. 1 contender.
Source: St-Pierre vs. Condit, Hendricks vs. Kampmann targeted for UFC 154 in Montreal