Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara booked again, set for UFC 133 in August
Posted on April 12, 2011, 10:23 PM by Joey SantosusThe long overdue Middleweight bout between Jorge Rivera and Alessio Sakara has been booked for UFC 133 in August.
UFC President Dana White announced that verbal agreements were in place for the match-up via the promotion's official website, UFC.com.
The fight was initially scheduled for UFC 118, but Rivera was forced out after suffering a broken arm. A second booking then fell apart when Sakara withdrew from their UFC 122 bout in Germany due to illness.
Rivera (19-8) will look to bounce back from defeat following a February TKO loss to Michael Bisping. Controversy arose surrounding the UFC 127 bout, as Rivera was struck in the head with an illegal knee shortly before he was overwhelmed by a flurry of punches that resulted in the referee stoppage. Prior to the loss, "El Conquistador" had won four of his last five outings, three of which had come via TKO.
Sakara (15-8), meanwhile, had his own three-fight win streak halted when he dropped a unanimous decision to promotional newcomer Chris Weidman at last month's UFC on Versus 3. "Legionarius" had also won four of his last five match-ups, with knockout victories both Joe Vedepo and James Irvin.
While still unofficial, UFC 133 is expected to take place on August 6th at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Alessio Sakara, right, fights Thales Leites during UFC 101 at the Wachovia Center on August 8, 2009, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Francis Specker
Comments
i can see either one of these fighters finishing at any given time, but i might bet on Sakara
Yea, it really is a solid match-up. Both of these guys fight hard, win or lose, and they were both on three-fight win streaks before each losing their last outings. So, it should be an entertaining fight at the very least.
Sakara all the way, much to technical for Jorge
sakara has the tools to be a highr rated fighter. some of the muay thai against in his last fight looked as sharp as it ever has and i think joe rogan said hes a blackbelt but for some reason maybe confidence or self belief just hasnt pulled off his career defining perfomance. i put bradon vera in the same boat.
Dear Mr. Rivera -
As a fan, please refrain from producing any of your comical videos for this fight. Although they were (for the most part) quite amusing (the first two were good, the last one sucked), I believe they distracted you from your purpose; which was to beat Michael Bisping in The Octagon, not on the internet; yours was a peric victory. You should simply train for this fight (improve your TDD for one) and nothing more; eye on the prize and all that.