Johnson-McCall tourney rematch, Pague-Papazian slated for UFC on FX 3
The fight card is filling quickly for the newly announced UFC on FX 3 event in June.
After their initial meeting ended in a baffling majority draw following a commission error, Ian McCall (11-2-1 MMA, 0-0-1 UFC) and Demetrious Johnson (14-2-1 MMA, 2-1-1 UFC) now will meet at the event.
So, too, will bantamweights Dustin Pague (10-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Jared Papazian (14-7 MMA, 0-1 UFC), officials today announced.
As MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) reported earlier today, UFC on FX 3 takes place June 8. However, a host city and venue haven't been announced. A fan vote ultimately will determine the destination as part of the Harley-Davidson Hometown Throwdown campaign.
UFC on FX 3's main card airs on FX, and FUEL TV is expected to carry the prelims. Officials didn't say if Johnson vs. McCall again will be a three-rounder (with a potential sudden-victory fourth round) or five-round non-title fight.
McCall and Johnson initially were reported to be meeting in the headliner of The Ultimate Fighter Live Finale on June 1. Instead they'll fight a week later at the FX event.
McCall and Johnson kicked off the UFC's inaugural four-man flyweight tournament earlier this month at UFC on FX 2 in Sydney. After a spirited bout, Johnson initially was named the split-decision winner. Officials then said the scorecards were added incorrectly and Johnson actually was a majority-decision winner. But later in the night at the event's post-fight press conference, Craig Waller, the executive director of the Combat Sports Authority of New South Wales, said he recorded a judge's score incorrectly (it should have been 10-8 instead of 10-9) and that the fight actually resulted in a majority draw via scores of 28-28, 29-29 and 29-28 (for Johnson).
The UFC had planned for such a scenario and required McCall vs. Johnson (as well as Joseph Benavidez vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani, which Benavidez won) to have mandatory sudden-victory fourth rounds. However, the tabulation error was caught so late in the night that McCall and Johnson couldn't do the fourth round. So now, they rematch in June, and the winner meets Benavidez later this year, when they fight for the UFC's first-ever flyweight title.
Pague, a semifinalist on "The Ultimate Fighter 14," made his official UFC debut on the undercard of the show's live finale back in June, where he was dominated by a John "Prince" Albert in a TKO loss. It snapped a five-fight win streak for the former Ring of Combat champion.
Papazian, meanwhile, recently made his promotional debut at UFC on FX 1 and suffered a close majority-decision defeat to contender Mike Easton. The former KOTC champ was on an 8-1 run before the setback.
