TUF alums Cruickshank, Rio to meet at UFC On FOX 10
UFC president Dana White would only like to forget the Ultimate Fighter: Live experiment. But for one night, there will be some nostalgia.
TUF: Live alums Daron Cruickshank and Mike Rio will meet in a lightweight bout Jan. 25 at UFC On FOX: Henderson vs. Thomson in Chicago, the UFC announced Sunday.
Lightweight TUF Live alumni @MikeRioMMA and Daron @Cruickshank155 will meet at @UFCONFOX in Chicago
— UFC News (@UFCNews) December 8, 2013
Cruickshank and Rio were on rival teams during the 15th season of the show -- Cruickshank was selected by Dominick Cruz and Rio by Urijah Faber. They never met during the series, but they will next month.
Cruz looks like the better judge of talent so far. Cruickshank (13-4) is coming off a loss to Adrian Martins last month at UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson, but has three UFC victories since TUF last year, including a highlight reel head kick knockout of Henry Martinez in December 2012. The 28-year-old also has a quality win over Yves Edwards.
Meanwhile, Rio (9-3) could be staring a pink slip in the face with a loss. After beating John Cofer at the TUF 16 Finale, he has lost two straight to Francisco Trinaldo and Tony Ferguson. Rio, 32, got hurt on TUF Live and didn’t make his debut until six months later, taking out Cofer by submission in the third round.
