After their first match ended in an outcome so controversial that it was dubbed Sherdog.com’s “Robbery of the Year” for 2010, Leonard Garcia and Nam Phan will get to do it again.
Sherdog.com has confirmed with a source close to the fight that the featherweights have agreed to meet for a second time at UFC Fight Night 24, an event expected to take place on March 26 at the Key Arena in Seattle. The matchup was first reported by MMAWeekly.com.
In their first encounter on Dec. 4 at “The Ultimate Fighter 12” finale in Las Vegas, Garcia and Phan engaged in a three-round brawl from which Garcia emerged the winner via split decision. The judges’ scorecards were the subject of much criticism from fans, pundits and even UFC President Dana White, who awarded Phan his win bonus in spite of the loss. The decision triggered a flood of e-mails from unhappy fans to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer told the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Savage Dog Show” last month.
Garcia, no stranger to controversy, has gone the distance in his last six outings, leading to three wins, two losses and one draw. Last April, the 31-year-old Texan was on the right side of another much-debated verdict in his split decision win over Chan Sung Jung at WEC 48. The Greg Jackson-trained fighter was a staple in the WEC featherweight division since his breakout in 2008, when he notched notable stoppages against the likes of Jens Pulver and Hiroyuki Takaya.
Sources tell Sherdog.com that Garcia had been tapped to meet the winner of the Diego Nunes-Mike Thomas Brown contest at UFC 125, but that UFC brass gave him another opponent after learning that the winner, Nunes, would be sidelined.
A well-traveled nine-year veteran of the sport, Phan gained a new fan base after appearing on the 12th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, where he reached the semifinals before being eliminated by eventual runner-up Michael Johnson. The 27-year-old holds black belts in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and karate, and has also dabbled in professional boxing, but has not won back-to-back professional MMA bouts since 2007.
Update, 10:34 p.m. ET: Nunes' trainer, Nova União head Andre Pederneiras, says that Nunes will likely return to training next week and that the camp was never contacted about a possible Nunes-Garcia matchup.
