TUF 19 winner Corey Anderson faces Gian Villante at UFC 181
Ultimate Fighter 19 winner Corey Anderson has booked his first post-TUF gig when he returns to action at UFC 181 in December to face Gian Villante on the upcoming card in Las Vegas.
UFC officials announced the new fight booking on Tuesday.
Anderson (4-0) was considered one of the top prospects on the last season of The Ultimate Fighter after being recruited to MMA by his college wrestling coach, Ben Askren. Anderson was impressive with three straight wins to make it to the finale, but had his best performance when he flattened former housemate Matt Van Buren in just 61 seconds at their fight back in July to win The Ultimate Fighter title.
His opponent, Gian Villante (12-5) will look to improve upon his current 2-2 record in the UFC when he faces the former reality show winner in December.
Villante has been a long time teammate and sparring partner of UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman. That connection should make things rather interesting because Weidman and Villante's coaches, Matt Serra and Ray Longo, are also part of the Renzo Gracie fight team family -- the same people who coach Anderson currently at a different facility in New York.
All drama aside, this should be an excellent test for Anderson, who is still raw but has enough talent to make a serious push towards the top 10 at some point in his career.
UFC 181 takes place on December 6 in Las Vegas with Villante's teammate Chris Weidman in the main event as he faces Vitor Belfort with the middleweight title up for grabs.
