UFC 160 had a change announced today, as “The Ultimate Fighter” season 8 winner Ryan Bader was pulled from the event due to a knee injury and replaced by James Te Huna. The Kiwi will now step in the cage to fight highly-ranked Glover Teixeira. Te Huna (16-5) is coming off a decision victory over Ryan Jimmo at UFC on FUEL TV 7, which snapped Jimmo’s 17-fight win streak. Although Te Huna was rocked in the early part of the fight, he was able to come back to outwrestle Jimmo and land some devastating ground and pound to garner the decision. However, the New Zealand native is most well-known for his punching power while standing, as he’s scored 10 knockout victories in his career, including three KOs in the UFC. Overall his UFC record of 5-1 (with the only L coming to Alexander Gustafsson) is very solid and he deserves this step up in competition. Still, this is a very tough matchup because Teixeira (20-2) can counter Te Huna’s wrestling and power punching, and then some. The Brazilian is 3-0 so far in the UFC with impressive wins over Kyle Kingsbury, Fabio Maldonado, and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson who Teixeira defeated in his last outing at UFC on FOX 6. Known for his knockout power and impressive ground game, Teixeira is certainly one of the best light heavyweights in the game today. This should be an exciting fight and the betting line for it will be very interesting to see. I’m willing to guess that Teixeira will open as at least a -275 favorite and possibly more, but the public hype behind Te Huna could bring that number down a bit. Markes vs. Brunson Added to UFC on FUEL TV 10 UFC on FUEL TV 10 had another matchup booked today, as TATAME.com reported that a middleweight matchup between Ronny Markes and Derek Brunson has been added to the card, which also features the finals of “The Ultimate Fighter” Brazil 2 and the heavyweight fight between coaches Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum. Markes (14-1) is one of the top prospects in the UFC middleweight division as the 24-year-old is already 3-0 in the UFC with wins over Andrew Craig, Aaron Simpson, and Karlos Vemola. Markes is a wrestler and a big guy for the division and will have the hometown edge in this fight. Brunson (10-2) meanwhile is coming off a decision win over Chris Leben in his UFC debut, although he was criticized by UFC president Dana White for his takedown-heavy style. Still, Brunson is a talented fighter and gained a lot of experience fighting in Strikeforce, and he should be very competitive in this matchup. Expect the line for this competitive matchup to open somewhere around a Pick ’em, although Markes could be slightly favored if only for the simple reason that this fight is taking place in his native Brazil. UFC Signs Perez to Six-Fight Contract Extension Rising bantamweight Erik Perez has singed a six-fight contract extension to remain in the UFC, according to his management team. Perez (13-4) has won all three of his UFC matchups so far, defeating John Albert via submission, Ken Stone via knockout, and Byron Bloodworth via TKO. The Mexican is next scheduled to face Johnny Bedford at UFC 159 this April, and a win over a guy like Bedford should be enough to get the 23-year-old Perez a fight against a top-10 opponent.
