Anthony Johnson to face Luigi Fioravanti at UFC Fight Night 17
Fresh off his stunning high kick knockout victory over Kevin Burns during the live finale for the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter, Anthony Johnson is set to return to the Octagon on February 7 during UFC Fight Night 17 against Luigi Fioravanti.
FiveOuncesOfPain.com learned of the news from Johnson’s agent, Ken Pavia, early Saturday afternoon with the story first being reported by MMAjunkie.com. Five Ounces of Pain has since confirmed with Fioravanti that he has in fact agreed to the bout as well.
Johnson’s win over Burns last month not only improved his record to 6-2, but it avenged a controversial defeat to Burns last July in which Johnson was declared the loser via TKO in spite of an illegal eye poke.
Fioravanti, a former Marine, also fought in December, defeating Brodie Farber via unanimous decision during “UFC Fight Night 16: UFC Fight for the Troops” in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The win improved Fioravanti’s overall record to 14-4 and his lifetime UFC record to 4-4.
UFN 17 will emanate from the University of South Florida’s Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida with the current card reported to be the following:
- Joe Lauzon vs. Hermes Franca
- Mac Danzig vs. Josh Neer
- Amir Sadollah vs. Nick Catone
- Cain Velasquez vs. Denis Stojnic
- Anthony Johnson vs. Luigi Fioravanti
- Jake Rosholt vs. Alessio Sakara
- Rich Clementi vs. Gleison Tibau
- Kurt Pellegrino vs. Rob Emerson
- Matt Grice vs. George Sotiropoulos
Sam Caplan is the President of Combat Sports Media, LLC, the parent company of FiveOuncesOfPain.com. CSM is a B-2-B outsource solution in the MMA industry and provides PR, web management, and other consulting services to MMA companies. Clients of CSM include the Combat Sports Championships and Showtime.
| All posts by Sam Caplan
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I think this is going to be another highlight reel knockout for Rumble Johnson.
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Rich Clementi vs. Gleison Tibau thats going to be a good one
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Awesome addition to the card! Just got my tix in the mail yesterday! I am pumped up for this one!
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I’m sure it will be another win for Johnson and if Luigi loses I think the UFC should drop him. The rest of the card looks really good. Can’t wait
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Why the hell is rumble fighting Luigi of all people!?!?! Why is he not fighting the top dogs on the weight class!? Rumble is the real deal no doubt! Two more wins and they should have him go for the title! He will be a champion soon!
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This is an impressing matchup. Bothe possess strong knockout power , i’d have to give the standup to Johnson however i can see Fiorivanti coming out with the W. They should have the winner of Danzig/Neer face the winner of Lauzon/Franca wich hopefully end up as Danzig vs Lauzon wich would be a great match up. Can’t wait to see the Clementi/Tibau fight
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wow rumble on a ufc fight night vs a midcarder….never saw that before…
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Ok kids, let me break this down for you. Tommy spear is not even a fighter anymore, and Kevin burns is at the bottom of the division. He has to pay his dues for at least 5 fights and then beat a contender. Do you guys really think he has something for alves fitch or even kos?
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Sorry Luigi..
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I’m really happy to see AJ back on the tv right away. i think he has the tool kit to be a
contender,and is one of the most unrated under appreciated fighters in UFC; but for me, (a huge fan) I need to see him totally dominate Luigi.
The last KO was great, but I thought his performance up to the KO looked a little messy, like he wasn’t hitting on all cylinders and he should have been a lot more dominant than he was.
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Is Neer even going to be able to fight in Feb?
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Luigi is good…..but for the wec or something like that! Not to fight Rumble on a main card. He got knocked the f’ out by a 155 pounder! Rumble is ready for the contenders right now!
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Real Solid set of free fights right there.
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