Wilson Gouveia vs Ed Herman in the works for UFC 102 with James Irvin scratchedhttp://mmamania.com/2009/08/05/wilson-g ... more-14387The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 3 season finalist Ed Herman (15-7) has agreed to replace the injured James Irvin opposite Wilson Gouveia (12-6) at UFC 102 from the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 29, according to Sherdog.com.
Bout agreements have not been signed; however, if and when they are it will mark the third opponent for American Top Team (ATT) standout. Chael Sonnen was pulled to take on Dan Miller at UFC 98 on short notice and “Sandman” recently blew out his knee.
Herman is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Canadian fighter David Loiseau at UFC 97 in April, which turned out to be a “loser leaves town” match. Prior to that, “Short Fuse” had lost two in a row to Alan Belcher (via split decision) and Demian Maia (via triangle choke).
He was supposed to return against Aaron Simpson at UFC Fight Night 19 on Sept. 16 before getting the call to replace Irvin. Herman will most likely be unable to keep that date, but nothing is official at this time.
Since making his debut at TUF 3 Finale — a losing performance that still earned him a six-figure contract with the promotion — the Pacific Northwest native has racked up a total of four wins and four losses inside the Octagon.
Gouveia (12-6) is coming off a disappointing loss – Nate Marquardt went bananas on him in the third round of their fight at UFC 95, unleashing a sensational barrage of strikes from all different angles for which he had no answer.
He notched a submission win (armbar) over late replacement Ryan Jensen at UFC Fight Night 15 in his divisional debut back in September. He also smashed Jason MacDonald with vicious elbows at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 Finale to score an impressive first round technical knockout in Dec. 2008.
This will mark the fourth fight for Gouveia at middleweight. And with losses to top division players such as Marquardt and Goran Reljic, he will need to prove that he he has what it takes to be successful at 185 pounds when he collides with Herman later this month.
UFC 102 will feature a main event between former champion Randy “The Natural” Couture battling former Pride FC champion Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira in a dream match up between two legendary mixed martial arts competitors.
Perennial light heavyweight contender Keith Jardine is also slated to throw down in a 205-pound slugfest against hard-hitting Brazilian import Thiago Silva on the televised PPV portion of the card, as well as a possible number one middleweight title contender eliminator match between Demian Maia and Nate Marquardt.
