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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC's got a new headlining fight for UFC on Fox 4 on August 4, and while one name is certainly one of the biggest that has appeared on Fox, his opponent won't necessarily breed excitement.
With the loss of Brian Stann from the night's card, former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua has been moved from UFC 149. That move was one many hoped to see, but his opponent is a different story, as the UFC announced that Rua will take on Brandon Vera in the night's new main event.
In addition to that change, Pablo Garza is out of a featherweight bout against the returning Josh Grispi, who will now take on Rani Yahya on the card, coming to the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif. on August 4.
Rua hopes to rebound from a loss to Dan Henderson in a five round main event at UFC 139 last November, and the former Champ will look to win his second fight in his last three Octagon appearances. Vera, meanwhile, hopes to win his second straight fight for the first time since 2009. In his last bout, he defeated Eliot Marshall by decision to snap a three fight winless streak dating back to UFC 102.
Grispi returns for the first time since suffering consecutive losses for the first time in his career, while Yahya would like to pick up his second win in three UFC bouts.
Penick's Analysis: I really, really would have preferred seeing Rua take on Lyoto Machida or Ryan Bader, and though he makes a bigger name than either of the previous Fox 4 headliners in Brian Stann or Hector Lombard, no one will really care about a fight against Brandon Vera. This was a missed opportunity for the UFC to put together something truly massive for the August 4 card, and instead it's another fight that many may see as skippable. Rua's name value could work for them, especially as a bounce back to the Miller-Diaz main event of the third fight, but Vera in the other slot just doesn't make a ton of sense with some of the other options they had available to them.
["Shogun" Rua art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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