Mark the date on your calendars, Vitor Belfort fans. One the biggest stars in MMA will get the chance to fight in his home country after missing out on UFC Rio, when he faces off against Anthony “Rumble” Johnson at UFC 142 in January.
The announcement comes Tuesday after UFC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo was confirmed to face Chad Mendes on the card.
Johnson has been told for a long time that a move up to middleweight (185 lbs.) would be to his advantage and it looks as though he has heeded that advice. The fight with Belfort will be mark his toughest competition to date and comes after Johnson was out of MMA for most of last year with a knee injury, but has two victories in 2011 over Dan Hardy and Charlie Brenneman.
Belfort is coming off of a KO victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133.
The event is expected to take place on January 14, 2012 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
