Following the withdrawal of Brian Stann from the main event of the UFC on Fox 4 fight card on August 4 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the promotion has announced a new main event, pitting former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua against Brandon "The Truth" Vera.
Rua, whose last bout was a tightly contested loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 139 in the Fight of the Year, had been scheduled to face Thiago Silva at UFC 149 in Calgary, but Silva was recently forced to withdraw from that bout with an injury. Instead,
It's a smart move for the UFC. With Jose Aldo defending his UFC Featherweight Championship in the main event against Erik Koch and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira making his return from injury against Cheick Kongo, the UFC 149 fight card certainly isn't short on attractions. The Fox card, meanwhile, can definitely use the star power that Shogun brings.
As for his opponent, Vera has been a main eventer for the UFC in the past, and is enough of a name to carry a main event slot. The matchup of two dynamic strikers in the main event should deliver fireworks for the network TV audience, and in all likelihood, Shogun should get his momentum back after two straight losses to Henderson and Jon "Bones" Jones. A name opponent like Vera means that Shogun has more to gain from the fight than he did against Glover Teixeira. Teixeira's name had been floated as a possible replacement for Silva on the UFC 149 fight card, but he's had just one fight in the UFC, and Rua would have far more to lose against Teixeira than he would have to gain.
With the addition of Shogun vs. Vera, the UFC on Fox 4 fight card becomes a much stronger showcase event for the UFC. With another former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion in the co-main event - Lyoto "the Dragon" Machida will face Ryan Bader - the UFC has two popular, entertaining fighters featured on the broadcast, along with undefeated heavyweight Travis "Hapa" Browne, who will face veteran Ben Rothwell.
Given the two highly entertaining fights in the past between Machida and Rua - the first of which took place at the Staples Center - it is a bit tantalizing to see them on the same fight card and not fighting each other, but overall, the UFC has made a strong move to put a strong fight card on FOX.