Gerald Harris vs Maiquel Falcao at UFC 123
Gerald Harris is set to face Maiquel Falcao at UFC 123, according to tatame.com. The fight is being put on by the Ultimate Fighting Champinships, the largest mixed martial arts promoter in the world. Brazilian website tatame.com broke the news.
Harris is one of the rising prospects in the middleweight division, with a 17-2 record overall, and an impressive 3-0 record in the UFC. He got his start on the reality show tournament The Ultimate Fighter season seven, where he lost in the second round to Amir Sadollah, the eventual winner. Like many other TUF alumni though, he got his shot in the UFC and defeated John Salter in January, stopping him and earning Knockout of the Night to secure his place in the UFC.
In March he then stopped Mario Miranda in the first round due to strikes, but it was at UFC 116 in July that he really broke out, with a devastating knock-out slam of Dave Branch. Three fights, three stoppages in the UFC and his career is looking bright.
His opponent will be the heavy-handed Falcao, who has never fought in the UFC. He’s a veteran of the Brazilian circuit though, where fighters often have to take on fights on short notice multiple times a month. He’s also trained with the legendary Chute Boxe camp, where the sparring sessions are notorious for being brutal and aggressive, with high-level Muay Thai and quality grappling with Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
With the move, the UFC appear to continue to be slowly building Harris as a prospect. With three wins in a row, that’s the time most fighters start to have to step it up and take on bigger fights with tougher opponents. But by giving him a relatively unknown fighter, it seems they’re set to give him another likely win as he moves up the ladder.
Tags: