Welterweights Brenneman, Johnson Headed for Oct. 1 Showdown

Anthony Johnson (above) and Charlie Brenneman are likely to meet. | Photo: Dave Mandel

Brenneman first hinted at the matchup via Twitter on Saturday afternoon, and the UFC acknowledged the pairing shortly thereafter. While neither party mentioned when the fight would go down, Sherdog.com was able to confirm Oct. 1 as the tentative bout date with a source close to the situation. The location of the unnamed event is currently unknown.

Last seen upsetting Rick Story at UFC Live 4 on June 26, Brenneman has gone 3-1 in the UFC since joining the promotion in March 2010. After outpointing Jason High in his debut, “The Spaniard” suffered his first and only Octagon defeat to date, falling by TKO to Johny Hendricks. Brenneman rebounded from the loss with consecutive victories, however, outpointing Amilcar Alves in January before stepping up on only one day's notice to defeat Story after Nate Marquardt was pulled from the UFC Live 4 main event.

Marquardt was initially expected to face Johnson in that June 26 headliner before “Rumble” was forced to withdraw with an injury. Known as one of the largest welterweights in the game, Johnson has had trouble making the 170-pound limit in the past. However, the Californian has provided fight fans with multiple exciting finishes during his UFC stint, knocking out Tommy Speer, Yoshiyuki Yoshida and Luigi Fioravanti, among others. The 27-year-old most recently competed at Fight Night 24 in March, using his superior wrestling to ground British bomber Dan Hardy and cruise to a unanimous decision victory.