A heavyweight bout between Daniel Cormier and Roy Nelson has been signed and will take place at UFC 166, according to a report late Monday.
The Cormier-Nelson bout will be the co-main event for the Pay-Per-View card, which takes place on Oct. 19 in Houston.
The fight’s signing means Nelson has negotiated a new deal with the UFC, after fulfilling the term of his previous contract with his last bout — a decision loss to Stipe Miocic at UFC 161. Nelson’s performance in the loss was considered lackluster by many, which gave the assumption that he would have little to no leverage in negotiating a new deal.
Terms of Nelson’s new contract weren’t immediately available.
Cormier, the former Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix champion, is fresh off his defeat of Frank Mir at UFC on Fox 7. The win marked a successful debut within the UFC for Cormier, and he was left without a new opponent for several months. Fans wondered if the fighter would drop a weight class to light heavyweight (205 pounds) to pursue divisional champ Jon Jones, but those plans are obviously on hold now because of the UFC 166 fight.
UFC 166 takes place at Houston’s Toyota Center and is headlined by a heavyweight title fight between champion Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos. The title bout is the third meeting between Velasquez and dos Santos, each of them winning one of the previous two fights.
News of the Cormier-Nelson match was first reported by The Houston Chronicle.
UFC 166
Velasquez vs. dos Santos 3
October 19, 2013
Toyota Center
Houston, Texas
Cain Velasquez (12-1) vs. Junior dos Santos (16-2)
Daniel Cormier (12-0) vs. Roy Nelson (19-8)
Nate Marquardt (32-12-2) vs. Hector Lombard (32-4-1)
Diego Sanchez (24-5) vs. Gilbert Melendez (21-3)
Tony Ferguson (13-3) vs. Mike Rio (9-2)