UFC officials have confirmed the bout.

Fresh off a stunning KO victory over George Sotiropoulos at UFC 132, dos Anjos is looking to make it two wins in a row and five wins in six tries. After back to back losses to start his UFC career, the jiu-jitsu black belt rattled off three straight victories before losing to Clay Guida at UFC 117 due to a jaw injury. While his recent victory over Sotiropoulos didn’t earn him “Knockout of the Night” honors, it did earn him recognition amongst fans and fighters, as he became the first man to finish the Australian.

Rafael will have his hands full with American Top Team product Tibau. A UFC veteran since 2006, Tibau has faced notable names such as Nick Diaz, Jim Miller, and Melvin Guillard. Winner of two straight fights and four of his last five, Tibau earned “Submission of the Night” honors at UFC 130 with his rear naked choke victory over fellow Brazilian Rafaello Oliveira.

UFC 139 is scheduled for November 19 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. While no main event has officially announced, it’s rumored that Cain Velasquez will return to action to defend his UFC heavyweight title against top contender Junior dos Santos. The co-main event pits top bantamweight contenders Urijah Faber and Brian Bowles against each other.

*PHOTO CREDIT – UFC*

Oliveira has picked up four straight wins since being released by the UFC a year ago after going 1-2 during his original run in the promotion. He holds an overall record of 14-3 and an even split between TKOs/submissions where his eight finishing performances are concerned. Like Tibau, who was originally brought in to face Palaszewski as a late replacement for an injured Cody McKenzie, he is also a BJJ blackbelt meaning things should get particularly interesting when action hits the mat during their in-ring encounter on May 28.

The 22-7 Tibau has been fairly hot as of late with victories over apt adversaries including success against Kurt Pellegrino in his previous outing last March at UFC 128 and additional wins over Josh Neer, Caol Uno, and Jeremy Stephens. The hulking American Top Team product owes much of his professional success to his skill on the ground as nineteen of his wins have come as either the result of a submission or decision.

UFC 130 is headlined by popular 205-pounder Quinton “Rampage” Jackson working towards another title-shot with the streaking Matt Hamill in his way and will also feature former heavyweight champ Frank Mir mixing it up with TUF 10 winner Roy Nelson, legitimate American hero Brian Stann welcoming SRC champion Jorge Santiago back to the Octagon after an impressive run outside of the UFC, and a preliminary pairing between Miguel Torres and Demetrious Johnson.

News of McKenzie’s condition and Tibau’s status as a fill-in were both reported by way of the UFC’s website.

Tibau is coming off a Split Decision over always-game opponent Kurt Pellegrino in March at UFC 128. Prior to his victory over Pellegrino the American Top Team product had gone 2-1 in his previous three Octagon appearances including success against respected competitors Josh Neer and Caol Uno. He holds an overall record of 22-7, including a win against Thiago Alves, and has only been finished three times since turning pro more than a decade ago just shy of his sixteenth birthday.

The match-up will mark the UFC debut of Palaszewski who has won four of his last five fights with the exception being a razor-thin decision loss to Kamal Shalorus at WEC 53 this past December. Twenty-seven of his thirty-four total victories have been the result of either a submission or TKO.

UFC 130 is set for May 28 and will be headlined by Frank Edgar’s title-defense against Gray Maynard. Other clashes on the card include popular light heavyweight Quinton “Rampage” Jackson taking on 10-2 Matt Hamill, rivals Frank Mir and Roy Nelson mixing it up in the ring, and appearances from a number of talented fighters such as Jorge Santiago, Demetrious Johnson, the aforementioned Alves, Miguel Torres, Brian Stann, and many others.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Sherk suffered a shoulder injury while training that will keep him out of action for a few weeks according to a recent report by Sherdog.com. Sherk was looking to get back into the win column after a unanimous decision loss to Frankie Edgar, back at UFC 98.

In “The Muscle Shark’s” place steps Josh Neer, who is coming off a unanimous decision loss himself at the hands of Kurt Pellegrino at UFC 101. The tough decision loss to Pellegrino brought Neer back to 2-2 in the Octagon in his third go-around with the organization.

Gleison Tibau is also coming off a loss, when he dropped a split decision to Melvin Guillard at the Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, back in June.

UFC 104 is set to air live on pay-per-view from the Staples Center and will be headlined by a title bout between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

Aurelio is most recently coming off a defeat to lightweight title contender Tyson Griffin at UFC 86 and is currently 2-2 in the UFC after a very successful careeer in the PRIDE organization. He’ll be looking to get past the .500 mark in the UFC in this bout against former ATT training partner Franca.

“It doesn’t matter who I fight; it’s a big challenge,” Franca is quoted telling Sherdog. “It is what it is. We’re both professionals. I think it’s better for me. I know his game really well. I’ve never trained with Gleison before.”

Franca is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Frankie Edgar at UFC Fight Night 14 in what was considered the Fight of the Night. That was Franca’s first fight back in over a year since being suspended for testing positive for steroids following his loss to Sean Sherk in July of 2007 at UFC 73.

The story quotes Franca as the source for the story. The UFC and Tibau’s camp at American Top Team have yet to officially comment.

If the matchup becomes official, it should be interesting as Franca is a former member of ATT’s Coconut Creek branch. According to Franca, he and Tibau are friends and even wished each other luck in regards to the forthcoming matchup when they ran into each other last week.

Franca returned to the UFC at UFC Fight Night 14 last month after having been released earlier in the year. In his return, Franca suffered a unanimous decision defeat against Frankie Edgar. It was Franca’s second consecutive loss with his previous defeat coming against then-UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk in July of 2007 at UFC 73.

After the loss to Sherk, the California State Athletic Commission suspended Franca for a year as a result of a positive test for steroids. Franca admitted to using performance enhancers but was forced to serve out the full suspension after his appeal was denied.

Tibau is also coming off back-to-back losses, having dropped a unanimous decision to Tyson Griffin this past February at UFC 81 and then falling victim to guillotine choke from Joe Stevenson at UFC 86 in July.

UFC 90, titled “Silva vs. Cote” will feature a UFC middleweight title defense by Anderson Silva against challenger Patrick Cote. Other bouts expected for the card, which is set to take place just outside of Chicago at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., include a welterweight showdown between Thiago Alves and Diego Sanchez and a lightweight bout between Spencer Fisher and Melvin Guillard.

Both Gusmao and Al-Hussan will be making their UFC debuts. According to the report, no reason was immediately given for Drwal’s absence from the card. This would be the second time in a row now that Drwal has had to pull out of a fight in the UFC. He pulled out of a fight against David Heath in February due to a knee injury but it’s unknown if his absence from the UFC 87 card is at all related to the same injury.

Al-Hussan is a Midwestern prospect who carries an undefeated 5-0 record coming into the fight and four of his five victories have come by way of TKO or submission. Gusmao is also 5-0 in his career with four of his victories coming in the IFL.

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Gusmao, 5-0, previously fought in the IFL, where he holds two career wins over Mike Ciesnolevicz. The 31-year old Brazilian native is known for his strong submission work on the ground, as well as some dynamic striking that he began to display towards the latter part of his IFL tenure.

Drwal, a native of Poland, made his his UFC debut at UFC 75 in London last September, where he lost to Thiago Silva via second round TKO. He has not fought since losing to Silva but boasts a 14-2 lifetime MMA record.

UFC 87 will take place at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. and will feature Georges St. Pierre defending the UFC welterweight title against Jon Fitch. Bouts between Brock Lesnar and Heath Herring as well as Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta are planned as well.

A knee injury has forced light heavyweight Tomasz Drwal to withdraw from his February 2nd bout with David Heath on the UFC 81 card in Las Vegas. No replacement will be made for this fight, and UFC 81, which is headlined by the interim UFC heavyweight title fight between Tim Sylvia and Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira, and the UFC debut of Brock Lesnar against Frank Mir, will carry on with eight bouts.

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