UFC 121, which is set to take place at Anaheim’s Honda Center on Oct. 23, started to take more shape today with the official announcement of the event’s main card. As expected, current UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will take on top contender and undefeated rising star Cain Velasquez in the night’s main event. Lesnar most recently retained his title in a unification bout with Shane Carwin at UFC 116, while Velasquez hasn’t competed since UFC 110 back in February.
UFC 121 Main Card Officially Announced. Lesnar Vs. Velasquez, Shields Vs. Kampmann
Also on the card will be the much anticipated octagon debut of Jake Shields, who relinquished his middleweight title with the Strikeforce organization before signing on to compete at 170lbs for the UFC. Looking to spoil the newcomer’s welcome will be Martin Kampmann, who also recently made the move south to welterweight. Touting a very impressive 8-2 record in the UFC, Kampmann will be looking to make a statement in this fight. He needs to follow up his dominating performance over Paulo Thiago at UFC 115 to get his name in the title conversation at welterweight. Shields is arguably under much more pressure to perform, and while a loss to Kampmann wouldn’t be catastrophic, it would be a major setback for someone who was essentially brought in to compete with the top contenders at 170 pounds.
Other notable scraps on the main card are Diego Sanchez vs. Paulo Thiago, Matt Hamill vs. Tito Ortiz and Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Brendan Schaub.
Although not official, the remainder of the card is pretty much a done deal.
MAIN CARD
* Champ Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez (for heavyweight title)
* Martin Kampmann vs. Jake Shields
* Diego Sanchez vs. Paulo Thiago
* Matt Hamill vs. Tito Ortiz
* Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Brendan SchaubPRELIMINARY CARD
* Ryan Jensen vs. Court McGee
* Todd Duffee vs. Jon Madsen
* Patrick Cote vs. Tom Lawlor
* Sam Stout vs. Paul Taylor
* Mike Guymon vs. Daniel Roberts
* Chris Camozzi vs. Dongi Yang
Stay tuned for more SB Nation coverage of UFC 121 as more becomes available.
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