A pair of featherweight bouts has been added to UFC 157 on February 23rd in Anaheim, and one features a couple of former title challengers. These bouts just add to one of the deeper top-to-bottom cards in recent memory: UFC.com has the news:
The featherweight division has never been stronger and adding to the avalanche of Anaheim match-ups, Chad Mendes and Manny Gamburyan will go at it in a wrestling vs judo clash. In addition, Dennis Bermudez and Matt Grice will meet in a pairing of wrestling powerhouses also known for their ability to brawl
.Mendes (13-1) is coming off a quick win over ultra-late replacement Yaotsin Meza at UFC on FX 6 last weekend. He was expected to face Hacran Dias, but he got injured late. Mendes is 2-0 since he lost his UFC featherweight title shot to Jose Aldo at UFC 142 last January. Gamburyan (12-7), who was knocked out by Aldo in his WEC title shot back in 2010, is coming off a decision win over Michihiro Omigawa at UFC on Fox 4 in August. That win ended a three-fight losing streak.
Bermudez (9-3) has picked up two wins in a row since losing the TUF 14 finals to Diego Brandao. His last win, a first-round submission of Tommy Hayden at UFC 150, earned him a $60,000 submission of the night bonus. Grice (15-4) picked up his first UFC win in almost five years when he defeated Leonard Garcia by decision at UFC on FX 3 in June.
The card will be main-evented by the first women’s fight in UFC history with Ronda Rousey defending her UFC women’s bantamweight title against Liz Carmouche.