Report: Former Bellator champ Will Brooks to return to the Octagon at UFC 216

By Tom Taylor - July 25, 2017

UFC 216, which is schedule for October 7 inside Las Vegas, Nevada’s T-Mobile Arena, is reported to have grown by one interesting lightweight matchup. This matchup will pit former Bellator lightweight champion Will Brooks against Nik Lentz. This news comes from MMAJunkie.com.

Will Brooks

Though Brooks stood out as one of the finest lightweights in the world at the height of his Bellator reign, his UFC career has been undeniably disappointing. After debuting with a fairly competitive decision win over Ross Pearson, he was pummelled into unconsciousness by third-round punches dealt by an overweight Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira. From there, things went from bad to worse, as he was tapped out by a standing rear-naked choke from former featherweight contender Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira. Despite his recent skid, it appears Brooks will be given an another shot against Lentz.

Lentz, meanwhile, is enduring a similarly rough patch, having gone 3-3 in his last six fights. In his most recent fight, Lentz was outworked by Islam Makhachev. This loss was preceded by defeats of Michael McBride and Danny Castillo, and a submission loss to the aforementioned “Do Bronx.” Lentz recently made headlines for a classless callout of BJ Penn, who came up short to German veteran Dennis Siver back in early June.

UFC 216 will also include another lightweight scrap between Beneil Dariush and Evan Dunham. Dariush last competed in March, when he was smashed by an Edson Barboza flying knee. Dunham, meanwhile, is on a solid, four-fight streak.

The card is expected to be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between dominant reigning champion Stipe Miocic, and fearsome former champion Cain Velasquez, who’s recent career has unfortunately been marred by repeated injuries. This bout was first reported by our own Chris Taylor.

Do you think Will Brooks can get back on track opposite “The Carny”?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/25/2017.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


Topics:

Nik Lentz Will Brooks