Johny Hendricks faces Matt Brown at UFC 185, Wonderboy vs. Thatch main event in Colorado
The UFC has been searching since New Year's Eve trying to find an opponent for Matt Brown and it seems he has a "Bigg Rigg" ready to accept the challenge.
Former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks has been tapped to face Brown in a new fight added to UFC 185 on March 14.
UFC officials confirmed the new bout on Tuesday.
Brown was originally expected to face former Strikeforce champion Tarec Saffiedine until he suffered an injury, which forced the change to the fight in the first place. Now Brown will fight a former UFC champion instead as two of the best welterweights in the world square off in March.
Hendricks (16-3) accepts the fight following his bout in December where he lost the welterweight title in a razor close decision to current champion Robbie Lawler.
After the fight, Hendricks was expected to face Lawler in a rematch to close out their trilogy of bouts later this year, but it seems the UFC opted for another option instead.
Hendricks now faces Brown in Texas with a title shot likely dangling in the balance for either fighter with a win. Brown was just recently riding a seven-fight win streak before losing a close decision to Lawler as well, so a victory over the former champion would put him directly in the crosshairs of a championship bout as well.
It also puts a bright spotlight on the rumored fight for UFC 186 pitting Rory MacDonald against Hector Lombard. MacDonald was previously expected to fight for the belt until the UFC opted to pit Hendricks against Lawler for a third time.
While that plan is now scrapped, these two bouts in the welterweight division could end up as an eliminator of sorts with the biggest winner drawing Lawler and the title fight next.
With Brown now off the proposed card for Feb. 14 in Colorado, the new main event will pit Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson against Brandon Thatch in a welterweight showdown on Valentine's Day. The two fighters were already scheduled as one of the featured bouts on the card, but now they will get the headline spot as the new main event for the UFC's return to Colorado.
