Brandon Vera vs. Ben Rothwell official for UFC 164 in Milwaukee

Brandon Vera (12-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) is returning to the heavyweight division for a fight with Ben Rothwell (32-9 MMA, 2-3 UFC) at UFC 164 in August.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported the bout earlier this week, and UFC executives recently made it official.

UFC 164 takes place Aug. 31 at Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and Facebook. It’s not clear where Vera vs. Rothwell will be placed on the lineup.

After debuting with the UFC as a heavyweight in 2005, Vera rocketed up the ranks with four straight wins before losses to Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum, which sent him to the light-heavyweight class. There, he struggled to build momentum and went 4-4 with one no-contest. Most recently he suffered a TKO loss to former champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in August.

Rothwell, meanwhile, has alternated between wins and losses since his exit from the now-defunct IFL promotion in 2007. Notably, he scored a first-round knockout of Brendan Schaub (which earned a “KO of the Night” bonus) at UFC 145 before Gabriel Gonzaga submitted him at UFC on FX 7 in his most recent outing.

For more on UFC 164, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Brandon Vera)