Ben Rothwell vs. Brandon Vera targeted for UFC 164

News

Brandon Vera (12-6 1 NC, 8-6 1 NC) will be returning to the division he started his UFC career in as he heads back to the heavyweight division for an August bout against Ben Rothwell (32-9, 2-3 UFC) at UFC 164. MMAJunkie.com reported the news on Tuesday.

Vera will be returning following over a year of being out of action due to injuries suffered in his last fight against Mauricio Rua at UFC On FOX 4 in August. Vera lost that fight via fourth-round TKO in a fight that many considered to be the best performance of Vera’s career. Vera has struggled in his recent UFC appearances with just one win over his last five fights, but his fight with Rua secured him another shot with the promotion. He now finds himself in a must-win situation as he returns to the heavyweight division, where he started out his time inside the Octagon with four straight wins.

Rothwell will likely be fighting for his spot on the UFC roster as well following a submission loss to Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC On FX 7 in January. He has rotated wins-and-losses over his five UFC appearances, scoring wins over Brendan Schaub and Gilbert Yvel while dropping fights to Mark Hunt and current UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez.

UFC 164 takes place on August 31 from the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. No fights have been formally announced though it has been previously announced that Alistair Overeem and Diego Sanchez will be competing on the card. It is currently unknown if Rothwell vs. Vera will be on the main card or the preliminary card.

Ryan Frederick has been a diehard mixed martial arts fan since he saw UFC 1 at the age of 7. Since then he has yet to miss a show. He also has loves for football, baseball and fine whiskey. He fell in love with covering MMA after having also covered baseball and football, both professional and college, while working towards a journalism degree at Texas Christian University. His work has been seen on FOXSports.com, InsideFights.com, WrestlingObserver.com, Bleacher Report and ToughTalkMMA.com.