Both bouts will likely be parts of the nights preliminary action and have been confirmed by UFC officials.

After winning the WEC featherweight strap in 2008, Brown hit a rough patch in 2009, starting with his title loss to Jose Aldo. He’s 3-3 since being dethroned as the 145 king but is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Nam Phan at UFC 133, which snapping a two fight losing streak. Rocha will be dropping to 145 for the first time in his career when he steps in the cage against Brown. He picked up his first UFC victory this past September when he submitted Cody McKenzie in the second round.

Rivera and Schafer are both in a must-win situation this January as they’re each coming off losses. Rivera has lost two straight bouts to Michael Bisping and Constantinos Philippou while Schafer dropped a decision to Aaron Simpson. A 39-year-old veteran, Rivera is 7-7 in his UFC career and appears to be on his last legs as a fighter. After spending his entire career at light heavyweight, Schafer dropped to middleweight but still couldn’t find UFC success as his octagon record dropped to 3-5.

UFC on FX 1 is scheduled for January 20 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The night will be headlined by a lightweight clash between Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

According to Brown via Facebook, he tore a ligament in his left hand during the first round of his Fight Night 23 bout and is set for surgery today to repair the damage.

This newest setback caps off a rough run of in-ring adversity the 35-year old has been dealing with since dropping his WEC title to Jose Aldo in November 2009. Post-loss, Brown has gone 2-3 including a pair of decision defeats inside the Octagon stemming from this past month of action. In addition to his stumble against Yahya, Brown was outpointed by Diego Nunes at UFC 125 on January 1 and was a late replacement at last weekend’s “Fight for the Troops” event.

Despite the struggles Brown still holds an overall record of 24-8 with past wins over Leonard Garcia, Yves Edwards, Jeff Curran, Mark Hominick, and Urjiah Faber (twice).

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC/WEC

Clay Guida Talks About Visiting Amsterdam (MiddleEasy.com)

Mike Brown Wants One Last Bout in WEC (Versus.com)

Urijah Faber Talks About Fighting in the Octagon (MMAFighting.com)

“The Korean Zombie” Moving Away from Undead Style (MMAConvert.com)

Joseph Benavidez Speaks About his Past, Present, and Future (Heavy.com)

Ever Wanted to Check Out Antonio McKee’s Crib? (MMAScraps.com)

Thales Leites Back on the Winning Track (FIGHT! Magazine)

You Saw What Fighters Dressed Up Like for Halloween…Now It’s Time for MMA-Themed Costumes (WatchKalibRun.com)

MMA in New York Takes a Blow (CagePotato.com)

Fight Ticker: What are your thoughts on GSP as a man and as a fighter?

Sell: GSP is an awesome athlete. He has all the tools to dominate but he is a mental midget — his mentality is very weak. He is a very nice guy and I have hung out with him, but I don’t like the way he flip-flopped after the first fight with Serra. GSP was cool right after the fight but about 5 weeks afterwards he started making excuses saying he didn’t train properly, then GSP retracted and said Serra was the better man that night, well what was it? I don’t like how his story changed. I believe that all the pressure is on GSP, especially considering he is fighting in front of his countrymen. Serra thrives on the pressure and likes the underdog role. Matt Serra is all heart and GSP is the type of guy that if they were in a bar GSP would back down from a fight while Serra is down for whatever.

So let me get this straight. GSP is the kind of guy who would back down from a fight in bar and Serra is the kind of guy who would throw down no matter what? And somehow GSP is the mental midget? I don’t get it. Anyways, Sell is an entertaining guy to listen to, so I recommend checking out the entire interview. It’s chock full of goodies.

– In case you missed it, MMAjunkie.com (formerly UFCjunkie.com) reported the other day that Jason Reinhardt is claiming his next match will be at UFC 78 in Newark against Joe Lauzon. It looks like Joe and Karo Parisyan will be on the same card after all.

– The guys at Junkie also broke the news the other day that the match between Pete Sell vs. Nate Quarry scheduled for UFC Fight Night 11 on Sept. 19 has been bumped up to the televised portion of the card. The match replaces the bout that was to have taken place between Jonathan Goulet and Mike Swick. Goulet is still expected to appear on the preliminary portion of the card against Dustin Hazelett.

– Junkie is also reporting that Corey Hill has opt of a joining Matt Hughes’ new gym in Illinois. Man, when is that guy going to finally make his UFC debut and get his career rolling?

– Spencer Fisher has left a message on his MySpace page that his next UFC fight could be in November. Fisher was scratched from the UFN 11 card after contracted staph infection.