It seems that the UFC saved the best for last. The finale of their "three-weeks, three events" summer schedule is sure to delight fight fans when the fireworks fly June 11th at UFC 131. The card is headlined by a heavyweight showdown between Junior dos Santos and Shane Carwin, with number-one contender status in the UFC's heavyweight division up for grabs. The winner of the bout will earn the opportunity to square-off against heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.
Also featured on the card is former-lightweight contender Kenny Florian's debut in the featherweight division against the highly-touted Diego Nunes. Florian, a constant in the lightweight rankings for years, has twice challenged for the UFC lightweight crown in the past, falling just short both times. After handedly losing a number one contender match to Gray Maynard at UFC 118, Florian made the decision to test his luck at 145 pounds. Always a wiry competitor at 155 pounds, the move may quickly pay dividends for "Ken-Flo", who will no longer face significant size and strength disadvantages at the lesser weight.
Filling out the rest of UFC 131's main card is a heavyweight bout between Jon Olav Einemo and Dave Herman, a middleweight bout between former title-contender Demian Maia and Mark Muñoz, and a lightweight bout between WEC-standout Donald Cerrone and Vagner Rocha.
‘UFC 131: Dos Santos vs. Carwin' will be held on June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. The action will be able to be seen live on pay-per-view.
Main card:
Heavyweight bout: (#2 HW) Junior Dos Santos vs. (#5 HW) Shane Carwin
Featherweight bout: (#7 LW) Kenny Florian vs. (#6 FW) Diego Nunes
Heavyweight bout: Jon Olav Einemo vs. Dave Herman
Middleweight bout: (#4 MW) Demian Maia vs. (#19 MW) Mark Munoz
Lightweight bout: Donald Cerrone vs. Vagner Rocha
Preliminary card (televised live on SPIKE):
Lightweight bout: Sam Stout vs. Yves Edwards
Middleweight bout: Jesse Bongfeldt vs. (#25 MW) Chris Weidman
Preliminary card:
Light Heavyweight bout: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Igor Pokrajac
Middleweight bout: Nick Ring vs. James Head
Featherweight bout: (#9 FW) Dustin Poirier vs. Jason Young
Heavyweight bout: Joey Beltran vs. Aaron Rosa
Featherweight bout: (#8 FW) Michihiro Omigawa vs. Darren Elkins
All rankings are courtesy of USA Today/SB Nation's consensus rankings.