According to the UFC’s website, Bader will face Jason Brilz at the show who himself is on a two-fight skid and will have little to lose when it comes to their impending match-up.

“Darth” Bader was last seen at UFC 132 where he was left befuddled by Tito Ortiz in one of the biggest upsets in recent history after “The Huntingon Beach Bad Boy” left him stunned with a well-timed punch, then moved in for the submission finish. As a result, the All-American wrestler out of Arizona State is now coming off back-to-back Guillotine Choke defeats after winning twelve straight to open up his MMA career including victories against Keith Jardine and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Brilz came to fans’ attention after beating Tim Boestch and Eric Schafer in the Octagon, then nearly taking out Nogueira at UFC 114, but was knocked out in twenty seconds by Vladmir Matyushenko at the UFC’s milestone event in Toronto this past April. He holds an overall record of 18-4-1 with fourteen finishes featuring five TKOs and nine submissions.

UFC 139 is headlined by Cain Velasquez defending his heavyweight belt against Brazilian brawler Junior dos Santos and is also set to feature a showdown between former WEC champs Urijah Faber and Brian Bowles.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

FiveOuncesOfPain.com was recently able to obtain the confirmation of the bout from sources close to the fight.

Marshall has a career record of 7-1 and has gone 2-0 officially with the UFC. He submitted Jules Bruchez at the TUF 8 Finale in December of 2008 before besting TUF 8 finalist Vinicius Magalhaes by decision at UFC 97.

Brilz has put together a career record of 17-1 and has gone undefeated in his last thirteen bouts. He is also 2-0 with the UFC, stopping Brad Morris with punches in September of 2008 before taking home the unanimous decision victory over Tim Boetsch at UFC 96.

UFC 103 is set for September 19 and will take place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

A full list of the bouts expected for the card are listed below:

Junior dos Santos vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic

Martin Kampmann vs. Mike Swick

Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg

Tyson Griffin vs. Hermes Franca

Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller

Sean Sherk vs. Gleison Tibau

Eliot Marshall vs. Jason Brilz

Drew McFedries vs. Tomasz Drwal

A lot of people are on the Boetsch bandwagon and believe he’s going to smash Brilz. As much respect as I have for Boetsch, I’m not exactly sure the fight is going to go down that way.

Tim Boetsch (8-2) vs. Jason Brilz (16-1-1)

Boetsch is a true warrior having once competed twice in six days. After submitting Brendan Barrett with a guillotine choke on a regional show in Orange, New Jersey, Boetsch then traveled up the turnpike to the Meadowlands six days later for a last-minute matchup against former IFL Vladimir Matyushenko.

The Lock Haven University wrestling walk-on gained additional fans when he smashed David Heath in his UFC debut at UFC 81 last February. The bout wasn’t televised live but was such an impressive performance that UFC officials showed it on a tape-delay basis. Soon after, Boetsch received a contract extension.

Boetsch looked less than stellar in a second round TKO loss to Matt Hamill last April at UFC Fight Night 13 but he bounced back in September with a win over Mike Patt at UFC 88. His opponent, Jason Brilz, also fought and defeated Patt.

The win over common opponents is an indicator that this matchup wasn’t signed to give Boetsch an easy victory. Wth wins over current UFC fighter Jason MacDonald and former UFC fighters Brad Morris and Alex Schoenauer, Brilz has proven he’s a tough competitor.

Boetsch will have the wrestling advantage but Brilz has better submissions. The standup might be a wash, because while Boetsch has tremendous power, his Jeet Kune Do background doesn’t always translate well to MMA.

Prediction: In a matchup that is almost too close to call, the pick here is Brilz by split decision.

Yamamoto indicated to the Japanese MMA media that he injured the knee while preparing for the bout vs. Benavidez. He indicated that while attempting a flying knee, he landed awkwardly on his right leg and heard a pop in his knee.

The official diagnosis is beleived to be a partial ACL tear, with Yamamoto being sidelined for at least six months.

In other DREAM.5-related news, published reports indicate that a heavyweight bout between Alistair Overeem and Mark Hunt has been added to the card.

DREAM.5 will be televised in the U.S. live on Monday morning at 2 a.m. ET on HDNet.

Below is a master list of all the MMA that will be airing over the next 10 days.
Damn, son. That is A LOT of mixed martial arts. My DVR is gonna get a workout.
What will YOU be watching?

All times Eastern.

Thurs 7/17

• UFC Countdown: Silva vs Irvin – 11pm – Spike TV (premier)

Friday 7/18

• UFC Countdown: Silva vs Irvin – 11am – Spike TV (re-air)
• Inside MMA – 9:30pm – HDNet
• Best of DREAM 4 Middleweight Grand Prix – 10:30pm – HDNet

Saturday 7/19

• UFC Unleashed – 4pm-7pm – Spike TV
• UFC Countdown: Silva vs Irvin – 7pm – Spike TV (re-air)
• Affliction BANNED Undercard: Emelianenko vs. Buentello – 8 pm – Fox Sports Net (live)
• Ultimate Knockouts 5 – 8pm – Spike TV
• UFC Fight Night 14: Silva vs. Irvin – 9pm-Midnight – Spike TV (live)
• Affliction BANNED: Fedor vs. Sylvia – 9pm – PayPerView (live)
• UFC Fight Night 14: Silva vs. Irvin – Midnight-3am – Spike TV (re-air)

Monday 7/21

• Dream 5: Lightweight Grand Prix Finals – 2am – HDNet (live)
• Dream 5: Lightweight Grand Prix Finals – 10pm – HDNet (re-air)

Saturday 7/26

• CBS/EliteXC Smith vs. Lawler II – 9pm – CBS (live)
• UFC 84 Penn vs. Sherk – 9pm – Spike TV (re-air)

(if we missed anything, let us know)

Not only will you get to see some of the best heavyweights in the world on the same card during Affliction: Banned along with the UFC light heavyweight debut of Anderson Silva during UFC Fight Night 14, but the finals of DREAM’s lightweight Grand Prix will be televised early Monday morning when HDNet brings us DREAM.5.

DREAM.5 will be airing LIVE on HDNet at 2 a.m. ET on Monday morning. For those unable to watch live that are also without a DVR/TiVo, you can check out the replay this Monday at 10 p.m. ET.

Courtesy of HDNet, you can watch their preview of DREAM.5 right here on 5 Oz. of Pain.

MMAWeekly.com reported the development earlier this week.

An opponent for Kang had never been announced, however he had been advertised for the card by DREAM.

Kang, at one time a near-consensus top-ten middleweight, has fallen on hard times recently, losing three out of his last four fights. A veteran of PRIDE, he is 0-2 since signing with DREAM and its predecessor, K-1 HERO’s.

Fighting for K-1 HERO’s last October, Kang suffered a first round knockout loss to Yoshihiro Akiyama. He returned to the ring for his DREAM debut at DREAM.2 in April, submitting to a triangle choke by striking specialist Gegard Mousasi at 3:10 of round 1.

The loss knocked Kang out of the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix in only the first round. He had been considered one of the favorites heading into the tournament.

According to previous reports, Kang has just one fight remaining on his contract with DREAM. However, despite training hard for DREAM.5, he did not express any hard feelings and apparently wants to continue fighting for the promotion.

“I want to stay with them, I have no problem with them,” Kang was quoted as saying by MMA Weekly’s Tom Hamlin. “I don’t know that any organization can be perfect. I understand that’s just the way business goes. You have to remember, FEG is running K-1 and K-1 Max, K-1 Heavyweight and DREAM at the same time. So I know they’re busy. It’s just very frustrating.”

If Kang does not re-sign with DREAM, he will likely still draw considerable interest on the open market in spite of his recent losing streak.

While an opponent has not been confirmed for Hansen, sources have also indicated that he is likely to face Kultar “Black Mamba” Gill.

DREAM.5 is scheduled to emanate from Osaka, Japan at Osakajo Hall and will feature the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix Semifinals and Finals. Semifinal matchups between Shinya Aoki vs. Caol Uno and Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri have been set, with the winners of each bout fighting each other the same night in the tournament final.

As the tournament’s reserve match, the winner of the expected Hansen vs. Gill matchup would likely move onto the final in the event that a semifinal winner was injured and unable to continue.

Hansen, 17-7-1, according to Sherdog’s fight finder, was eliminated from the tournament after dropping a unanimous decision to Alvarez during the Grand Prix’s second round at DREAM.3 on May 11, in what many critics consider to be a candidate for “Fight of the Year.” Hansen advanced past the first round at DREAM.1 this past March when he recorded a unanimous decision over Kotetsu Boku.

Gill is 9-7 according to Sherdog and was eliminated from the first round of the tournament after losing in a unanimous decision to current semifinalist Kawajiri. In addition to DREAM, Gill has also competed for K-1 HERO’s, BodogFIGHT, Shooto and TKO.

In addition to the completion of the Lightweight Grand Prix, a non-tournament match between Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto and Joe Benavidez is also planned for DREAM.5. Middleweights Yoshihiro Akiyama and Denis Kang are rumored for the card as well, in separate bouts.

An opponent has not yet been named.

The bout will be a pivotal one for Kang, who has lost three out of his last four bouts. A highly-skilled fighter who at one time was ranked in the top ten by most major websites and blogs, lost in the first round of DREAM’s middleweight Grand Prix event on April 29. Facing striking specialist Gegard Mousasi, Kang surprisingly lost at 3:10 of round 1 when he submitted to a triangle choke.

Prior to his loss to Mousasi, Kang had been knocked out in the first round by Yoshihiro Akiyama during a K-1 HERO’S bout last October.

The Canadian-based fighter made his name in PRIDE and holds career victories over Murilo “Ninja” Rua, Amar Suloev, Akihiro Gono, Mark Weir, and Andrei Semenov.

According to Russell, Kang will become an unrestricted free agent following his bout at DREAM.5.