Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced during last Saturday night's pay-per-view broadcast (via Heavy.com) that its UFC 129 "Prelims" telecast will include welterweight bouts featuring Nate Diaz vs. Rory MacDonald and Brian Foster vs. Sean Pierson.
UFC 129: "St. Pierre vs. Shields" is set for April 30, 2011, from the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada.
The 25-year-old Diaz is looking to bounce back from a hard fought unanimous decision loss to grappling "Stun Gun" Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 125 back on Jan. 1.
The Cesar Gracie product is 1-1 since his return to the welterweight division following an inconsistent run as one of the promotion's top 155-pound prospects. After submitting Melvin Guillard at UFC Fight Night 19 in 2009, Diaz lost a very questionable split decision to Gray Maynard in 2010.
While he's comfortable in either weight class, a decisive win up North could go a long way in determining which division he calls home for the remainder of his 2011 fight campaign.
But don't expect MacDonald to make it easy for him.
After an impressive armbar submission win in his UFC debut over Mike Guymon, "Mac" shocked both fans and pundits when he controlled the majority of his next fight against the highly-favored Carlos Condit and may have been on his way to a lopsided decision victory -- until he gassed out and was finished with just seconds remaining in the contest.
The loss sent the Canadian to the famed Tristar gym to train with 170-pound deity Georges St. Pierre and if he watched Diaz lose to Kim, he might find it advantageous to drill wrestling with the very best in the world.
Tune in to find out.
In a hometown hustle, Brian Foster will throw hands against Sean Pierson to see who moves up the divisional ladder and who gets blown away like a dried-up maple leaf.
Foster may not have the biggest name in the sport but he's done relatively well for himself since making his way into the world's largest fight promotion, winning a couple of bonus awards including "Knockout of the Night" and "Fight of the Night" while looking impressive in the finishing of his last two opponents.
But will his progress be arrested by the (former) Canadian police officer?
Pierson made headlines when it became known the Toronto Police force, of which he was an upstanding member of, was not happy with his participation in the sport of mixed martial arts. He was asked to make a choice between fighting and being a policeman.
Octagon it is.
The former lawman started his career a mediocre 5-4 but after stringing together five consecutive wins, he got the call up from the big show. Well, that and the UFC needed a late replacement for an injured T.J. Waldburger at UFC 124 against Matt Riddle.
The Canadian agreed and made the most of his opportunity by taking a unanimous decision that company President Dana White would have awarded "Fight of the Night" -- had it not been the one event he decided to let the fans vote on the award.
Apparently that was enough for the organization to ask the grappler back and now he'll get the chance to fight in his native land.
UFC 129 is set to feature a main event between Canada's own Georges St. Pierre, defending his welterweight title against fresh challenger -- and former Elite XC and Strikeforce champion -- Jake Shields.
In front of 55,000 screaming Canadians.
The event is also expected to include "Father Time" Randy Couture, defying the odds once again to take on Karate master Lyoto Machida.
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