With 9 matches officially set, UFC 151 is beginning to fill out. The feature bout between the apparently unstoppable Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones and the extremely heavy handed Dan Henderson is one of the most anticipated bouts coming up this fall. Jones has defended his title 3 times since taking it from Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, with only his former teammate Rashad Evans being able to take him the distance at UFC 145. Henderson has been on arguably the most impressive run of his career with his last two fights including a knock out of legendary Fedor Emelianenko and a five round fight of the year against Shogun Rua. UFC 151 will take place on September 1 at the Mandalay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
This afternoon, Shane Roller announced a new fight to the card via Twitter:
After an incredibly impressive 2nd round knock out of Thiago Tavares in his promotional debut at UFC On Versus 3, Shane Roller’s career took a very negative turn. He lost all 3 of next 3 fights and was finished in two of those. Knowing he was on extremely thin ice after his decision loss to Michael Johnson, Roller was able to pull out the decision over John Alessio at UFC 148 and secure his position on the UFC Lightweight roster. Going into this fight with Volkmann at UFC 151, he’s probably not out of the deep waters just yet.
Jakob Volkmann is in almost the exact opposite career position as Roller. Following an unsuccessful run at Welteerweight where he dropped two consecutive fights, Volkmann dropped down to the 155 lb. division. The Minnesota native found his stride at the lower weight class reeling off 5 decision victories in a row. Unfortunately for “Christmas”, he ran into triangle choke artist Paul Sass at UFC 146. In the wake of his first Lightweight loss, Volkmann will undoubtedly be looking to grind his way back into the win column.
Shane Roller (11-6)
W John Alessio (Decision) UFC 148
L Michael Johnson (Decision) UFC On Fox 2
L T.J. Grant (Technical Submission) UFC On Versus 6
Jacob “Christmas” Volkmann (14-3)
L Paul Sass (Submission) UFC 146
W Efrain Escudero (Decision) UFC 141
W Danny Castillo (Decision) UFC On Versus 5