UFC 116 targeted for July 3 in Las Vegas, Brock Lesnar could headline
Steven Marrocco, MMAjunkie.com
Feb 6, 9:44 am EST
Buzz up! 7 PrintLAS VEGAS The return of Brock Lesnar could come a day shy of Independence Day.
A well-placed UFC source told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the promotion is targeting July 3 for an event date in Las Vegas. A venue for the show, which will likely be UFC 116, has not been determined, and the UFC has not yet reserved the date with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
In three of the past four Fourth of July weekends, the UFC has hosted cards in Las Vegas, and UFC president Dana White recently said he hopes to keep it a tradition much like the organization's Super Bowl weekend and end-of-year shows.
The summer event would be sandwiched between UFC 115 (Vancouver on June 12), The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale (Las Vegas on June 19) and the promotion's first trip to Boston (possibly UFC 117), which is expected for Aug. 28.
White said the outcome of two upcoming heavyweight fights Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin at UFC 111 (for the interim heavyweight title) and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez at UFC 110 will factor into determining Lesnar's next opponent, though he didn't specify which winning fighter will get the opportunity.
"We've got to find out what's going to happen with the next two fights, the heavyweight fights, and then we'll figure out what we're going to do," White said Thursday to a gathering of reporters. "If those guys come out of that fight healthy, we'll do that fight."
In a perfect world, White said, Lesnar will return in June or July.
Lesnar is currently on the mend in Minnesota after suffering a severe case of diverticulosis that threatened to end his MMA career. He and White announced his planned return two weeks ago on ESPN's "Sportscenter" and during a subsequent and impromptu media teleconference.
The massive champion said he has already re-gained 20 pounds of muscle after dropping 40 pounds to the intestinal infection. (He normally walks around at 280-plus pounds.)
"I know one thing," Lesnar said of the UFC heavyweight division during the teleconference. "All them guys are [expletive] in their pants right now."
Currently, no other participants are rumored for the July event.
For the latest on UFC 116, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.
(Pictured: Brock Lesnar)
Steven Marrocco is a staff reporter for MMAjunkie.com and an MMA contributor for The Vancouver Sun.
Check out more UFC News at MMAjunkie.com. This story originally appeared on MMAjunkie.com and is syndicated on Yahoo! Sports as part of a content-partnership deal between the two sites.
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