TWO MIDDLEWEIGHT BOUTS ADDED UFC 90

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TWO MIDDLEWEIGHT BOUTS ADDED UFC 90
Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - by MMAWeekly.com Staff

The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Tuesday confirmed two middleweight bouts to its UFC 90 event, already scheduled to feature UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva defending his belt against Patrick Cote. The event marks the promotion’s debut foray into Chicago, one of the largest sports markets in the United States.

Ricardo Almeida, who would have been facing Silva in the title bout had he not lost a split decision to Cote at UFC 86, will take on former International Fight League fighter Matt Horwich.

Almeida made his return to MMA after a three-year-plus hiatus earlier this year with a quick submission of Rob Yundt. He carries a 9-3 professional record with wins over some of the top fighters in the division, including Nathan Marquardt, Kazuo Misaki, and Ryo Chonan.

A Team Quest (Oregon) fighter, Horwich has amassed a 23-10-1 record in five years as a professional. He brings with him an impressive ground game that will be put to the test against the Renzo Gracie black belt, and an iron chin. He counts Jason MacDonald, Benji Radach, Vernon “Tiger” White, and Mike Pyle among his wins.

In the other announced middleweight fight, undefeated Croatian Goran Reljic will make the move down from the 205-pound division to face contender Thales Leites.

Known for his strong submission game, Reljic made his Octagon debut at UFC 84 with a surprising TKO stoppage of American Top Team fighter Wilson Gouveia. If he can continue to round out his game and get past Leites, Reljic could be a strong addition to a UFC middleweight division that has been waning under the dominant title reign of Anderson Silva.

“Everybody knows that I am a ground fighter, but they forget that I am from a country where kickboxing is a strong tradition,” said Reljic in a recent interview with MMAManager.net about his fight with Gouveia. “That’s why I decided to stand up with him and TKO him in the end.”

A product of the Nova Uniao camp, Thales Leites, in five trips to the Octagon, has lost only his debut fight in the UFC. He is currently on a four-fight winning streak including a controversial split decision over Nathan Marquardt in his last outing. Also a strong submission fighter with good hands, Leites could be lining himself up for a title shot with Silva if he can spoil Reljic’s middleweight debut.