A middleweight bout between Dave Branch (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and Rousimar Palhares (11-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) now is official for March's UFC on Versus 3 event. Branch replaces Brazilian fighter Alexandre Ferreira, who was forced to withdrawal from the event due to the devastating flooding that's killed family and friends in his native country.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) passed along news of the change this past week, and UFC executives recently made it official.
UFC on Versus 3 takes place March 3 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., and the main airs on Versus. Branch vs. Palhares is slated for the untelevised preliminary card.
Branch has built a two-fight win streak with decision victories over Tomasz Drwal and Rich Attonito, both in the UFC. It's been a fortunate turnaround for the grappling specialist following an octagon debut gone horribly wrong. He took on Gerald Harris at UFC 116 and was knocked out cold in the third round by a slam to the mat.
Meanwhile, leg-lock specialist Palhares is on the mend after perennial contender Nate Marquardt halted his three-fight win streak at UFC Fight Night 22 in September. It an uncharacteristic slip – literally – he grabbed ahold of Marquardt's leg and moved to execute his signature move. But when Marquardt easily slid out of the submission, he left himself open for a counterattack when he signaled to referee Herb Dean that something fishy was going on. Marquardt, in turn, pounced and pounded him out for a TKO win.
Although Palhares and his camp initially protested the sequence, commission officials checked his opponent immediately afterward and determined no foul play was at hand (just a pair of shaved legs, as it were). He later apologized for the greasing accusation.
The latest UFC on Versus 3 card now includes:
MAIN CARD
- Martin Kampmann vs. Diego Sanchez
- C.B. Dollaway vs. Mark Munoz
- Rafael Natal vs. Alessio Sakara
- Brian Bowles vs. Damacio Page
- Johny Hendricks vs. TBA*
- Cyrille Diabate vs. Steve Cantwell
- Shane Roller vs. Thiago Tavares
- Eric Koch vs. Cub Swanson
- Takeya Mizugaki vs. Francisco Rivera
- Rob Kimmons and Dongi Yang
- Todd Brown vs. Igor Pokrajac
- Dave Branch vs. Rousimar Palhares
- Matt Brown vs. TBA*
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