Australian Anthony Perosh got the fight he wanted with the Sydney based light-heavyweight fighter set to meet Vinny Magalhaes on the UFC 163 card scheduled to be held in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil.
After recovering from a toe break, Perosh mentioned in a recent interview to MMA Kanvas that the time was right for the two to face-off after Magalhaes had previously called out Perosh looking for his way back into the UFC.
“Vinny (Magalhaes) was calling me out when he was trying to get into the UFC, he wanted me as his first match, but it didn’t make any sense because I was on a three fight win streak back then,” said Perosh.
With both coming off a loss, the fighters went public with their interest in facing each other. Both fighters are having their second spells in the UFC and will be looking at proving a point in the light-heavyweight division.
Magalhaes lost in the finale of The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 to Ryan Bader and couldn’t capitalise when given another opportunity where he lost to Eliot Marshall. Magalhaes then spent three years fighting around the world where he was able to capture the M-1 Light-Heavyweight Title and a pass back into the UFC. The 28 year-old returned at UFC 152 to secure his first win the UFC defeating Pokrajac with a second-round submission only to lose to Phil Davis by decision back in April this year.
At 41 year-old, Perosh is one of the oldest fighters currently fighting in the UFC with only Dan Henderson being older in the Light-heavyweight division. Perosh made his debut back in 2003 where he quickly earned his way into the UFC back in 2006. Back-to-back losses to Jeff Monson and Christian Wellisch forced Perosh back on the regional fighting circuit. Perosh got the opportunity to step-in on late notice to face heavyweight Mirko Filipovic at UFC 110 and jumped at it. He lost however was given a chance to redeem himself in his normal weight division of light-heavyweight. Perosh won three in a row before a 7-second knockout to Ryan Jimmo back in July brought that to a grinding halt. Perosh was expected to return in December against Joey Beltran however a gruesome training injury forced him off the card.
The match-up between Western Australian fighter Soa Palelei and Nikita Krylov has been confirmed by UFC officials after Fight News Australia first reported that the match-up was in the works. The fight has been confirmed for the UFC 164 event which will be held at the BMO Harris Bradley Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA on August 31. Palelei was scheduled to meet Stipe Miocic at UFC 161 before Miocic got the call-up to face Roy Nelson on the main card, leaving Soa Palelei without a fight. Nikita Krylov will bring an undefeated 14-0 record to the Octagon as the Kyokushin Karate practitioner looks to make a big impact as Ukraine’s first fighter to get a shot in the UFC after recently being announced as having signed for the UFC.
