A middleweight bout has been verbally agreed to for UFC São Paulo between Antonio Carlos Junior takes on Elias Theodorou. MMA News’s Damon Martin confirmed an initial report by Combate.
Antonio Carlos Junior’s first choice for his next opponent was Paulo Costa after feeling slighted by the UFC rankings system, as Costa is now placed three spots above him in the middleweight rankings. Coincidentally, Carlos Junior will now face someone three spots below him in Elias Theodorou, who is currently ranked at #14.
Both fighters are bringing a good deal of momentum with them to this middleweight bout. Theodorou has won two consecutive bouts and four of his last five. Holding an impressive record of 13-2, Theodorou has never been finished in his MMA career. His last two victories came over judoka Dan Kelly and Trevor Smith, both by unanimous decision. Elias Theodorou will likely look to continue using his cerebral brand of fighting when pitted against Carlos Junior, whom you can expect will look to hand Theodorou his first stoppage defeat and continue the string of submission victories the jiu-jitsu black belt is enjoying.
Carlos Junior has three consecutive submission victories (four of the last five) and is the winner of a quiet, yet very impressive five straight bouts. Most recently, Carlos Junior defeated Tim Boetsch via rear naked choke at UFC on Fox: Poirier vs. Gaethje. If MMA math worked for Theodorou, he could count on the fact that Carlos Junior’s last loss on his 10-2-1 record came to Dan Kelly, a man Theodorou defeated last November.
With the addition of this middleweight bout, the current UFC Fight Night 137 card is below:
Alex Oliveira vs. Neil Magny
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Sam Alvey
Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Elias Theodorou
Thales Leites vs. Hector Lombard
Evan Dunham vs. Francisco Trinaldo
Belal Muhammad vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
Alex Chambers vs. Livia Renata Souza
Who gets the win? Antonio Carlos Junior or Elias Theordorou?
