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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Mirko Cro Cop was expected to meet Ben Rothwell in his next bout after Rothwell was forced out of their UFC 110 meeting with an illness, but now both fighters will be facing different opponents their next time out, according to separate reports from MMAJunkie.com.
Rothwell will now be meeting Gilbert Yvel at UFC 115 in Vancouver on June 12th, and Yvel's originally rumored opponent Pat Barry will be facing off against Cro Cop on the same card.
Cro Cop defeated last minute replacement Anthony Perosh at UFC 110 last weekend in Australia, while Barry will be returning for the first time since October's UFC 104 event, where he scored a double bonus for "Knockout of the Night" and "Fight of the Night".
Yvel will be making his second appearance in the Octagon after losing his debut to Junior Dos Santos last month. Rothwell as well lost his Octagon debut, to Cain Velasquez last October, also at UFC 104.
UFC 115 is expected to take place at the GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the UFC's first trip to B.C. It is set to feature the third bout between Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz in the night's main event.
Penick's Analysis: I like both of these matchups better than the originally rumored fights. Cro Cop vs. Barry should be one hell of a slugfest. The possibilities of major damage caused by kicks is highly exciting. For Yvel and Rothwell, both had recent success outside of the Octagon before stumbling out of the gate in the UFC, so it gives both a chance to turn that around. This card is shaping up nicely for the Vancouver fans' first crack at UFC action.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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