by Scott Haber
As has become customary, the Spike TV prelims special for UFC 139 in November will feature a pair of Ultimate Fighter alums. Fightline reports today the two bouts chosen for the live broadcast are: Chris Weidman vs. Tom Lawlor and Ryan Bader vs. Jason Brilz.
Bader and Lawlor were both contestants on the eight season of TUF, and although Bader went on to win the season, Lawlor has proven to be more of a fan favorite with his homages to MMA legends during weigh-ins, and his questionable choices of entrance attire and music. Both have tough tasks ahead of them in San Jose though.Bader is in desperate need of a win after two consecutive guillotine choke losses to Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz. The Jones loss is obviously nothing to be embarrassed about, as Jones has been just about every opponent he faces look just as silly as he did Bader, but the Ortiz fight was certainly a case of the young prospect not taking an aging veteran seriously. Brilz, meanwhile, finds himself in dire straits as well. After coming off a surprising performance against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (that many thought he won), Brilz unfortunately followed it up by getting knocked out by Vladimir Matyushenko, who hasn't exactly shown much KO power before.
Lawlor will be facing one of the middleweight division's brightest prospects who can probably match or eclipse all of his strengths. Weidman was a two-time All American wrestler at Hofstra and also placed third in the NCAA tournament, and when he turned to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu while training under Matt Serra, he excelled there as well, gaining entry to the prestigious ADCC grappling tournament in 2009 where he made it all the way to a close points loss to grappling wizard, Andre Galvao, who also won his division and the absolute division in the ADCCs this year. Weidman is still refining his striking, and they may be one area where Lawlor can outmatch him, but if this goes to the ground (and with Weidman's credentials, it likely will), it may be a long night for "Filthy Tom".
The 139 card looks like this so far
Main Card:
Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio Rua
Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le
Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles
Rick Story vs. Martin Kampmann
Stephan Bonnar vs. Kyle Kingsbury
Spike TV Prelims:
Chris Weidman vs. Tom Lawlor
Ryan Bader vs. Jason Brilz
Facebook Prelims:
Michael McDonald vs. Johnny Eduardo
Miguel Torres vs. Nick Pace
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Gleison Tibau
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